A  SELECT  GLOSSARY  OF  ENGLISH  WORDS. 


Worlcs  by  R.  C.  TRENCH,  D.  D.,  Dean  of  Westminster. 

IN    UNIFORM    STYLE   WITH   THIS   VOLUME. 
I. 

ON    THE    STUDY    OF   WORDS. 

1  vol.  12mo.     Price  75  cents. 
II. 

ON    THE    LESSONS    IN    PROVERBS. 

1  vol.  12mo.     Price  50  cents. 
III. 

SYNONYMS  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT. 

1  vol.  12mo.     Price  75  e.'nts. 

IV. 
ON    THE    ENGLISH    LANGUAGE, 

PAST     AND     PRESENT. 
1  vol.  12mo.     Price  75  cents. 

V. 

POEM  S. 

1  vol.  12mo.    Price  one  dollar. 

VI. 

CALDERON,    HIS    LIFE    AND    GENIUS, 

WITH    SPECIMENS    OP    HIS    PLAT  8. 

1  vol.  12mo.     Price  75  cents. 

VII. 
SERMONS  ON  THE  DIVINITY  OF  CHRIST. 

1  vol.  12mo.     Price  50  cents. 

VIII. 

ON  THE  AUTHORIZED  VERSION  OF  THE 
NEW  TESTAMENT, 

IN    CONNECTION   WITH   RECENT    PROPOSALS   FOR   ITS    REVISION 

1  vol.  12mo.    Price  75  cents. 

PUBLISHED  BY  J.  S.  REDFIELD,  NEW  YORK 


SELECT  GLOSSAEY 


OF 


ENGLISH  WORDS  USED  FORMERLY  IN  SENSES 
DIFFERENT  FROM  THEIR  PRESENT. 


BY 


RICHARD  CHENEVIX  TRENCH,  D.  D. 

DEAN    OF   WESTMINSTER, 

AUTHOR    OF     "  THE   STUDY    OF    WOKDS" — "  ENGLISH,   PAST    AND    PRESENT" — "  THB 
LESSONS    IN    PKOTERBS"— "  SYNONYMS    OF  THE   NEW   TESTAMENT,"    BTC. 


BEDFIELD 

34  BKEKMAN  STREET,  NEW  YORK 

1859 


PREFACE. 


THIS  volume  is  intended  to  be  a  contribution,  I  am 
aware  a  very  slight  one,  to  a  special  branch  of  the 
study  of  our  own  language.  It  proposes  to  trace  in 
a  popular  manner  and  for  general  readers  the  changes 
of  meaning  which  so  many  of  its  words  have  under 
gone  ;  words  which,  as  current  with  us  as  they  were 
with  our  forefathers,  yet  mean  something  different  on 
our  lips  from  what  they  meant  upon  theirs.  Of  my 
success  in  carrying  out  the  scheme  which  I  had  set 
before  myself,  it  does  not  become  me  to  speak,  except 
to  say  that  I  have  fallen  a  good  deal  below  my  hopes, 
and  infinitely  below  iny  desires.  But  of  the  scheme 
itself  I  have  no  doubts  I  feel  sure  that,  if  only  ade 
quately  carried  out,  few  works  of  the  same  compass 
could  embrace  matter  of  more  manifold  instruction, 
or  in  a  region  of  knowledge  which  it  would  be  more 
desirable  to  occupy.  In  the  present  condition  of  edu 
cation  in  England,  above  all  with  the  pressure  upon 
young  men,  which  is  ever  increasing,  to  complete  their 
educational  course  at  the  earliest  possible  date,  the 
number  of  those  enjoying  the  inestimable  advantages, 


VI  PREFACE. 

mental  and  moral,  which  more  than  any  other  lan 
guages  the  Latin  and  the  CJreek  supply,  must  ever  be 
growing  smaller.  It  becomes,  therefore,  a  duty  to 
seek  elsewhere  the  best  substitutes  within  reach  for 
that  discipline  of  the  faculties  which  these  languages 
would  better  than  any  other  have  afforded.  And  I 
believe,  when  these  two  are  set  aside,  our  own  lan 
guage  and  literature  will  furnish  the  best  substitutes ; 
which,  even  though  they  may  not  satisfy  perfectly,  are 
not,  therefore,  to  be  rejected.  I  am  persuaded  that  the 
decomposition,  word  by  word,  of  small  portions  of 
our  best  poetry  and  prose  —  Lycidas  suggests  itself 
to  me  as  in  verse  offering  more  exactly  what  I  seek 
than  any  other  poem,  perhaps  some  of  Bacon's  Essays 
in  prose  —  the  compensations  which  we  look  for  are 
most  capable  of  being  found ;  even  as  I  have  little 
doubt  that  in  many  of  our  higher  English  schools  com 
pensations  of  the  kind  are  already  oftentimes  obtained. 
In  such  a  decomposition,  to  be  followed  by  a  recon 
struction,  of  some  small  portions  of  a  great  English 
Classic,  matters  almost  innumerable,  and  pressing  on 
the  attention  from  every  side,  would  claim  to  be  no 
ticed  ;  but  certainly  not  last  nor  least  the  changes 
which,  on  close  examination,  would  be  seen  to  have 
overcome  many  of  the  words  employed.  It  is  to  point 
out  some  of  these  changes  ;  to  suggest  how  many  more 
there  may  be,  there  certainly  are,  which  have  not  been 
noticed  in  these  pages  ;  to  show  how  slight  and  subtle, 
while  yet  most  real,  how  easily,  therefore,  evading 


PREFACE.  Vii 

detection,  unless  conduit  vigilance  is  used,  these 
changes  often  have  been  ;  to  trace  here  and  there  the 
progressive  steps  by  which  the  old  meaning  has  been 
put  off,  and  the  new  put  on,  the  exact  road  which  a 
word  has  travelled ;  this  has  been  my  purpose  here ; 
and  I  have  desired  by  such  means  to  render  some 
small  assistance  to  those  who  are  disposed  to  regard 
this  as  a  serviceable  discipline  in  the  training  of  their 
own  minds  or  the  minds  of  others. 

The  book  is,  as  its  name  declares,  a  Select  Glossary. 
There  would  have  been  no  difficulty  whatever  in  doub 
ling  or  trebling  the  number  of  articles  admitted  into 
it.  But  my  purpose  being  rather  to  arouse  curiosity 
than  fully  to  gratify  it,  to  lead  others  themselves  to 
take  note  of  changes,  and  to  account  for  them,  rather 
than  to  take  altogether  this  pleasant  labor  out  of  their 
hands  and  to  do  for  them  what  they  could  more  prof 
itably  do  for  themselves,  I  have  consciously  left  much 
of  the  work  undone,  even  as  unconsciously,  no  doubt, 
I  have  left  a  great  deal  more.  At  the  same  time  it 
has  not  been  mere  caprice  which  has  induced  the  par 
ticular  selection  of  words  which  has  been  actually 
made.  Various  motives,  but  in  almost  every  case 
such  as  I  could  give  account  of  to  myself,  have  ruled 
this  selection.  Sometimes  the  past  use  of  a  word  has 
been  noted  and  compared  with  the  present,  as  usefully 
exercising  the  mind  in  the  tracing  of  minute  differ 
ences  and  fine  distinctions  ;  or  again,  as  helpful  to  the 
understanding  of  our  earlier  authors,  and  likely  to 


viii  PREFACE. 

deliver  the  readers  of  them^from  misapprehensions 
into  whicli  they  might  very  easily  fall  ;  or  once  more, 
as  opening  out  a  curious  chapter  in  the  history  of 
manners,  or  as  involving  some  interesting  piece  of 
history,  or  some  singular  superstition  ;  or  again,  as 
witnessing  for  the  good  or  for  the  evil  which  have 
been  unconsciously  at  work  in  the  minds  and  hearts 
of  those,  who  insensibly  have  modified  in  part  or 
changed  altogether  the  meaning  of  some  word  ;  or, 
lastly  and  more  generally,  as  illustrating  well  under 
one  aspect  or  another  those  permanent  laws  which  are 
every  where  affecting  and  modifying  human  speech. 

And  as  the  words  brought  forward  have  been  se 
lected  with  some  care,  and  according  to  certain  rules 
which  have  for  the  most  part  indicated  their  selection, 
so  also  has  it  been  with  the  passages  adduced  in  proof 
of  the  changes  of  meaning  which  they  have  undergone. 
The  principal  value  which  a  volume  of  such  humble 
pretensions  as  the  present  can  possess,  must  consist  in 
the  happiness  with  which  these  have  been  chosen. 
Not  every  passage,  which  really  contains  evidence  of 
the  assertion  made,- will  for  all  this  serve  to  be  ad 
duced  in  proof,  and  this  I  presently  discovered  in  the 
many  which  for  one  cause  or  another  it  was  necessary 
to  set  aside.  There  are  various  excellencies  which 
ought  to  meet  in  such  passages,  but  whicli  will  not  by 
any  means  be  found  in  all. 

In  the  first  place  they  ought  to  be  such  passages  as 
will  tell  their  own  story,  prove  the  point  which  they 


PREFACE.  ix 

are  cited  to  prove,  quite  independently  of  the  uncited 
context,  to  which  it  will  very  often  happen  that  many 
readers  can  not,  and  of  those  who  can,  that  the  larger 
number  will  not,  refer.  They  should  bear,  too,  upon 
their  front,  that  amount  of  triumphant  proof,  which 
will  carry  conviction  not  merely  to  the  student  who, 
by  a  careful  observation  of  many  like  passages,  and 
a  previous  knowledge  of  what  was  a  word's  prevailing 
use  in  the  time  of  the  writer,  is  prepared  to  receive 
it,  but  to  him,  also,  to  whom  all  this  is  presented  now 
for  the  first  time,  who  has  no  predisposition  to  believe, 
but  is  disposed,  rather,  to  be  incredulous  about  it. 
Then,  again,  they  should,  if  possible,  be  passages  ca 
pable  of  being  detached  from  their  context  without 
the  necessity  of  drawing  a  large  amount  of  this  con 
text  after  them  for  the  making  them  intelligible  ;  like 
trees  which  will  endure  to  be  transplanted  without 
carrying  with  them  a  huge  and  cumbrous  bulk  of  earth, 
clinging  to  their  roots.  Once  more,  they  should,  if 
possible,  be  such  as  have  a  certain  intrinsic  worth  and 
value  of  their  own,  independent  of  their  value  as  il 
lustrative  of  the  point  in  language  directly  to  be 
proved — some  weight  of  thought,  or  beauty  of  ex 
pression,  or  merit  of  some  other  kind,  that  so  the 
reader  may  be  making  a  second  gain  by  the  way.  I 
can  by  no  means  claim  this  for  all,  or  nearly  all  of 
mine.  Indeed  it  would  have  been  absurd  to  seek  it  in 
a  book  of  which  the  aim  is  quite  other  than  that  of 
the  bringing  together  a  collection  of  striking  quota- 


X  PREFACE. 

tions  ;  any  merit  of  this  kind  must  continually  be 
subordinated,  and,  where  needful,  wholly  sacrificed, 
to  the  purposes  more  immediately  in  view.  Still  there 
will  be  many  citations  found  in  these  pages  which, 
while  they  fulfil  the  primary  intention  with  which 
they  were  quoted,  are  not  wanting,  also,  in  this  sec 
ondary  worth. 

In  my  citations  I  have  throughout  acted  on  the 
principle  that  "Enough  is  as  good  as  a  feast;"  and 
that  this  same  "  Enough,"  as  the  proverb  may  well  be 
completed,  is  better  than  a  surfeit.  So  soon  as  that 
earlier  meaning,  from  which  our  present  is  a  departure, 
or  which  once  subsisted  side  by  side  with  our  present, 
however  it  may  have  now  disappeared,  has  been  suffi 
ciently  established,  I  have  held  my  hand,  and  not 
brought  further  quotations  in  proof.  In  most  cases, 
indeed,  it  has  seemed  desirable  to  adduce  passages 
from  two  or  three  authors  ;  without  which  a  suspicion 
may  always  remain  in  the  mind,  that  we  are  dealing 
with  the  exceptional  peculiarity  of  a  single  writer, 
who  even  in  his  day  stood  alone.  I  do  not  feel  confi 
dent  that  in  some,  though  rare,  instances  I  have  not 
brought  forward  exceptional  uses  of  this  kind. 

Two  words  I  will  add  in  conclusion.  Seeing  that 
I  have  had  some  share,  though  a  small  one,  in  the 
suggestion  of  a  new  English  Dictionary  to  be  pub 
lished  by  the  Philological  society,  I  may  be  permitted 
to  say  that  I  considered  it  became  me  to  use  no  por 
tion  whatever  of  the  materials  which  are  being  col- 


PREFACE.  XI 

lected  for  it  in  the  composition  of  this  volume — of 
those  contributions  for  a  public  object,  to  a  private 
end.  Indeed  those  materials  have  never  so  much  as 
come  under  my  eye,  except  some  exceedingly  small 
portions  of  them,  which  by  accident  passed  through 
my  hands  on  their  way  to  those  of  the  Editor ;  not  to 
say  that  this  little  Glossary  was  in  all  essential  parts 
completed  two  years  ago,  before  that  great  work  was 
so  much  as  contemplated. 

And  as  I  owe  nothing  to  these  MS.  collections,  in 
valuable  help  as  I  have  no  doubt  they  would  have 
rendered,  so  next  to  nothing  in  the  way  of  citation  to 
any  other  source.  This  value  I  may  claim  for  my 
book,  that  it  is  with  the  very  most  trifling  exceptions 
an  entirely  independent  and  original  collection  of 
passages  illustrative  of  the  history  of  our  language. 
Of  my  citations,  I  believe  about  a  thousand  in  all,  I 
may  owe  some  twenty  at  the  most  to  existing  Diction 
aries  or  Glossaries,  to  Nares,  or  Johnson,  or  Todd, 
or  Richardson.  In  perhaps  some  twenty  cases  more 
I  have  lighted  upon  and  selected  a  passage  by  one  of 
them  selected  before,  and  have  not  thought  it  desira 
ble,  or  have  not  found  it  possible,  to  choose  some  other 
in  its  room.  These  excepted,  the  collection  is  entire 
ly  independent  of  all  those  which  have  previously 
been  made. 

WESTMINSTER,  May  25,  1859. 


SELECT  GLOSSARY, 


ETC. 


A. 

ABANDON.  '  Bann,'  a  word  common  to  all  the  Ger 
manic  languages,  and  surviving  in  our  '  banns  of  mar 
riage,'  is  open  proclamation.  In  Low  Latin  it  takes 
the  forms  of  <  bannus,'  l  bannum,'  edict  or  interdict ; 
while  in  early  French  we  have  '  bandon,'  almost  al 
ways  with  the  particle  a  prefixed,  '  a  bandon ;'  thus 
4  vendre  a  bandon,'  to  sell  by  outcry.  From  this  we 
have  the  verb  *  abandonare,'  which  has  passed  into  all 
the  Romance  languages ;  it  is  to  proclaim,  announce, 
but  more  often  denounce  (a  bandit,  '  bandetto,'  is 
a  denounced  man,  a  proclaimed  outlaw).  Here  is  the 
point  of  contact  between  the  present  use  of <  abandon' 
and  its  past.  What  you  denounce,  you  loosen  all  the 
ties  which  bind  you  to  it,  you  detach  yourself  from 
it,  you  forsake,  in  our  modern  sense  of  the  word,  you 
'  abandon'  it. 

Blessed  shall  ye  be  when  men  shall  hate  you,  and  abandon  your 

1 


2  ABANDON  -  ALCHYM Y. 

name  as  evil  [et  ejecerint  nomcn  vcstrum  tanquam  malum,  Vulg.]  for 

the  Son  of  man's  sake. 

Luke  vi.  22.  Tlheims. 

Beggar.  Madame  wife,  they  say  that  I  have  dreamed 
And  slept  above  some  fifteen  years  or  more. 

Lady.  Aye,  and  the  time  seems  thirty  unto  me, 
Being  all  this  time  abandoned  from  thy  bee!. 

Shakespeare,  The  Taming  of  the  Shrew,  Act  i.  Sc.  1. 


ACHIEVEMENT.  I  doubt  whether  this,  the  fuller 
form  of  the  word,  is  ever  used  now,  where  'hatch 
ment'  is  intended. 

As  if  a  herald  in  the  atchievement  of  a  king,  should  commit  the  in 
decorum  to  set  his  helmet  sideways  and  close  ;  not  full-faced  and  open, 

as  the  posture  of  direction  and  command. 

Milton,  Tetrachordon. 


ADMIRE, 

ADMIRABLE. 


It  now  always  implies  to  wonder  with 
approval;  but  was  by   no  means  re 


strained  to  this  wonder  in  lonam  partcm  of  old. 

Neither  is  it  to  be  admired  that  Henry  [the  Fourth],  who  was  a 
wise  as  well  as  a  valiant  prince  .  .  .  should  be  pleased  to  have  the 
greatest  wit  of  those  times  in  his  interests,  and  to  be  the  trumpet  of 

his  praises. 

Dryden,  Preface  prefixed  to  the  fables. 

In  man  there  is  nothing  admirable  but  his  ignorance  and  weakness. 
J.  Taylor,  Dissuasive  from  Popery,  part  ii.  b.  i.  sect.  7. 


ALCHYMY.  By  this  we  always  understand  now  the 
pretended  art  of  transmuting  other  metals  into  gold ; 
but  it  was  often  used  to  express  itself  a  certain  mixed 
metal,  which,  having  the  appearance  of  gold,  was  yet 


ALCHYMY — ALLOW.  3 

mainly  composed  of  brass.  Thus  the  notion  of  false 
ness,  of  show  and  semblance  not  borne  out  by  reality, 
frequently  underlay  the  earlier  uses  of  the  word. 

As  for  those  gildings  and  paintings  that  were  in  the  palace  of  Al- 
cyna,  though  the  show  of  it  were  glorious,  the  substance  of  it  was 
dross,  and  nothing  but  alchymy  and  cosenage. 

Sir  J.  Harrington,  A  brief  Allegory  of  Orlando  Furloso. 

Whereupon  out  of  most  deep  divinity  it  was  concluded,  that  they 
should  not  celebrate  the  sacrament  in  glass,  for  the  brittleness  of  it ; 
nor  in  wood,  for  the  sponginess  of  it,  which  would  suck  up  the  blood  ; 
nor  in  alchymy,  because  it  was  subject  to  rusting ;  nor  in  copper,  be 
cause  that  would  provoke  vomiting;  but  in  chalices  of  latten,  which 
belike  was  a  metal  without  exception. 

Fuller,  The  Holy  War,  b.  iii.  c.  13. 

Towards  the  four  winds  four  speedy  cherubim 
Put  to  their  mouths  the  sounding  alchemy. 

Milton,  Paradise  Lost,  b.  ii. 

ALLOW,      ^  '  To  allow,'  from  the  French  i  allouer,' 
ALLOWANCE,  >  and  through  it  from  the  Latin  *  allau- 
ALLOWABLE.  J  dare,'  had  once  a,  sense  very  often  of 
praise  or  approval,  which  may  now  be  said  to  have 
departed   from   it   altogether.     Tims    in   Cotgrave's 
French  and  English  Dictionary,  an  invaluable  testi 
mony  of  the  force  and  meanings  which  words  had  two 
centuries  ago, '  allow'  is  rendered  by  <  allouer,' <  greer,' 
'  approuver,'  '  accepter,'  and  '  allowable'  by  '  louable.' 

Mine  enemy,  say  they,  is  not  worthy  to  have  gentle  words  or  deeds, 
being  so  full  of  malice  or  frowardness.  The  less  he  is  worthy,  the 
more  art  thou  therefore  allowed  of  God,  and  the  more  art  thou  com 
mended  of  Christ. 

Homilies  ;  Sermon  against  Contention. 


4  ALLOW — AMUSE. 

Truly  ye  bear  witness  that  ye  allow  [awcvcoKEtrc]  the  deeds  of  your 

fathers. 

Matt,  xxiii.  28.  Authorized  Version. 

A  stirring  dwarf  we  do  allowance  give 
Before  a  sleeping  giant. 

Shakespeare,  Troilus  and  Cressida,  Act  ii.  Sc.  3. 

Though  I  deplore  your  schism  from  the  Catholic  Church,  yet  I 
should  bear  false  witness  if  I  did  not  confess  your  decency,  which  I 
discerned  at  the  holy  duty,  was  very  allowable  in  the  consecrators  and 

receivers. 

Ilacket,  The  Life  of  Archbishop  Williams,  part  ii.  p.  211. 


AMUSE,  1  The  attempt  which  Coleridge  makes 
AMUSEMENT,  j  to  bring  '  amuse'  into  some  connection 
with  the  Muses  is  certainly  an  error ;  from  whence 
we  have  obtained  the  word  is  harder  to  say.  For 
two  suggestions  about  it,  neither  of  which  seem  to 
me  very  happy,  see  Diez,  Wort.  d.  Roman.  Sprachen, 
p.  236,  and  Proceedings  of  the  Philological  Society, 
vol.  v.  p.  82.  Sufficient  here  to  observe  that  the  no 
tion  of  diversion,  entertainment,  is  comparatively  of 
recent  introduction  into  the  word.  '  To  amuse' was 
to  cause  to  muse,  to  occupy  or  engage,  and  in  this 
sense  indeed  to  divert,  the  thoughts  and  attention. 
The  quotation  from  Phillips  shows  the  word  in  tran 
sition  to  its  present  meaning. 

Camillus  set  upon  the  Gauls,  when  they  were  amused  in  receiving 
their  gold. 

Holland,  Livy,  p.  223. 

Being  amused  with  grief,  fear,  and  fright,  he  could  not  find  a  house 

in  London  (otherwise  well  known  to  him),  whither  he  intended  to  go. 

Fuller,  The  Church  History  of  Uritain,  b.  ix.  $  44. 


AMUSE — ANIMOSITY.  5 

A  siege  of  Maestricht  or  Wesel  (so  garrisoned  and  resolutely  de 
fended),  might  not  only  have  amused  but  endangered  the  French 

armies. 

Sir  W.  Temple,  Observations  on  the  United  Provinces,  c.  8. 

To  amuse,  to  stop  or  stay  one  with  a  trifling  story,  to  make  him 
lose  his  time,  to  feed  with  vain  expectations,  to  hold  in  pla}\ 

Phillips,  The  New  World  of  Words. 

In  a  just  way  it  is  lawful  to  deceive  the  unjust  enemy,  but  not  to 
lie ;  that  is,  by  stratagems  and  semblances  of  motions,  by  amusements 
and  intrigues  of  actions,  by  ambushes  and  wit,  by  simulation  and  dis 
simulation. 

J.  Taylor,  Ductor  Dubitantium,  b.  iii.  c.  2. 

ANATOMY.  Now  the  act  of  dissection,  but  it  was 
often  used  by  our  elder  writers  for  the  thing  or  object 
dissected,  and  then,  as  this  was  stripped  of  its  flesh, 
for  what  we  now  call  a  skeleton.  <  Skeleton'  (#.  v.) 
had  then  another  meaning. 

Here  will  be  some  need  of  assistants  in  this  live,  and  to  the  quick, 
dissection,  to  deliver  me  from  the  violence  of  the  anatomy. 

Whitlock,  Zootomia,  p.  249. 

Antiquity  held  too  light  thoughts  from  objects  of  mortality,  while 
some  drew  provocatives  of  mirth  from  anatomies,  and  jugglers  showed 

tricks  with  skeletons. 

Sir  T.  Browne,  HydriotapMa 

ANIMOSITY.  While  i  animosus'  belongs  to  the  best 
period  of  Latin  literature,  '  animositas'  is  of  quite  the 
later  silver  age.  It  was  used  in  two  senses  ;  in  that, 
first,  of  spiritedness  or  courage  ('  equi  animositas  J 
the  courage  of  a  horse),  and  then,  secondly,  as  this 
spiritedness  in  one  particular  direction,  in  that,  name- 


0  ANIMOSITY — APPARENT. 

ly,  of  a  vigorous  and  active  enmity  or  hatred  (Heb. 
xi.  27.  Vulg.).  Of  these  two  meanings  the  latter  is 
the  only  one  which  our  '  animosity'  has  retained  ;  yet 
there  was  a  time  when  it  also  had  the  other  as  well. 

When  her  [the  crocodile's]  young  be  newly  hatched,  such  as  give 
some  proof  of  animosity,  audacity,  and  execution,  those  she  loveth, 

those  she  cherisheth. 

Holland,  Plutarch's  Morals,  p.  977. 

Doubtless  such  as  arc  of  a  high-flown  animosity  affect  fortunas  la- 
ciniosas,  as  one  calls  it,  a  fortune  that  sits  not  strait  and  close  to  the 
body,  but  like  a  loose  and  a  flowing  garment. 

Hacket,  The  Life  of  Archbishop  Williams,  part  i.  p.  30. 

Cato,  before  he  durst  give  the  fatal  stroke,  spent  part  of  the  night 
in  reading  the  Immortality  of  Plato,  thereby  confirming  his  wavering 
hand  unto  the  animosity  of  that  attempt. 

Sir  T.  Browne,  Hydriotaphia. 

APPARENT,  )  With  the  exception  of  the  one  phrase 
APPARENTLY,  j  '  heir  apparent,'  meaning  heir  evident, 
manifest,  undoubted,  we  do  not  any  longer  employ 
'  apparent*  fur  that  which  appears,  because  it  is,  but 
always  either  for  that  which  appears  and  is  not,  or 
for  that  which  appeal's,  leaving  in  doubt  whether  it  is 
or  no.  Thus  we  might  say  with  truth  in  the  modern 
sense  of  the  word,  that  there  are  apparent  contradic 
tions  in  Scripture ;  we  could  not  say  it  in  the  earlier 
sense  without  denying  its  inspiration. 

It  is  apparent  foul-play;  and  'tis  shame 
That  greatness  should  so  grossly  offer  it. 

Shakespeare,  King  John,  Act  iv.  Sc.  2. 


APPARENT — ARTILLERY.  7 

The  laws  of  God  cunnot  without  breach  of  Christian  liberty,  and 
the  apparent  injury  of  God's  servants,  be  hid  from  them  in  a  strange 
language,  so  depriving  them  of  their  best  defence  against  Satan's 
temptations. 

Fuller,  Twelve  Sermons  concerning  Christ's  Temptations,  p.  59. 

At  that  time  [at  the  resurrection  of  the  last  day],  as  the  Scripture 
doth  most  apparently  testify,  the  dead  shall  be  restored  to  their  own 

bodies,  flesh  and  bones. 

Articles  of  the  Church  (1552). 

APPREHENSIVE.  As  there  is  nothing  which  persons 
lay  hold  of  more  readily  than  that  aspect  of  a  subject 
in  which  it  presents  matter  for  fear,  4  to  apprehend' 
has  acquired  the  sense  of  to  regard  with  fear ;  yet 
not  so  as  that  this  use  has  excluded  its  earlier ;  but 
it  has  done  so  in  respect  of '  apprehensive,'  which  has 
now  no  other  meaning  than  that  of  fearful,  a  meaning 
once  quite  foreign  to  it. 

She,  being  an  handsome,  witty,  and  bold  maid,  was  both  apprehen 
sive  of  the  plot,  and  very  active  to  prosecute  it. 

Fuller,  The  Profane  State,  b.  v.  c.  5. 

My  father  would  oft  speak 
Your  worth  and  virtue ;  and,  as  I  did  grow 
More  and  more  apprehensive,  I  did  thirst 
To  see  the  man  so  praised. 

Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  Philaster,  Act  v.  Sc.  1. 

ARTILLERY.  Leaving  the  perplexed  question  of  the 
derivation  of  this  word,  it  will  he  sufficient  to  observe, 
that  while  it  is  now  only  applied  to  the  heavy  ord 
nance  of  modern  warfare,  in  earlier  use  any  engines 


8  ARTILLERY — ARTISAN. 

for  the  projecting  of  missiles,  even  to  the  bow  and 
arrows,  would  have  been  included  under  this  term. 

Ships  heavily  charged,  carrying  artillery,  ordinance,  and  engines 

of  battery. 

Holland,  Livy,  p.  745. 

So  the  Philistines,  the  better  to  keep  the  Jews  thrall  and  in  sub 
jection,  utterly  bereaved  them  of  all  manner  of  weapon  and  artillery, 

and  left  them  naked. 

Jewel,  Reply  to  M.  Harding,  Article  xv. 

And  Jonathan  gave  his  artillery  unto  his  lad,  and  said  unto  him, 

Go,  carry  them  to  the  city. 

1  Sam.  xx.  40.  Authorized  Version. 

ARTISAN,  )  Both  these  words  have  partially  changed 
ARTIST,  j  their  meaning.  '  Artisan'  is  no  longer 
used  of  him  who  cultivates  one  of  the  fine  arts,  but 
those  of  common  life.  The  fine  arts,  losing  this  word, 
have  now  claimed  '  artist'  for  their  exclusive  proper 
ty  ;  which  yet  was  far  from  belonging  to  them  always. 
An  4  artist'  in  its  earlier  acceptation  was  one  who  cul 
tivated  not  the  fine,  but  the  liberal,  arts.  The  clas 
sical  scholar  was  eminently  the  '  artist.' 

He  was  mightily  abashed,  and  like  an  honest-minded  man  yielded 
the  victory  unto  his  adversary,  saying  withal,  Zeuxis  hath  beguiled 
poor  birds,  but  Parrhasius,  hath  deceived  Zeuxis,  a  professed  artisan. 

Holland,  Pliny,  part  ii.  p.  535. 
Rare  artisan,  whose  pencil  moves 
Not  our  delights  alone,  but  loves  ! 

Waller,  Lines  to  Van  Dyck. 

For  then,  the  bold  and  coward, 
The  wise  and,  fool,  the  artist  and  unread, 
The  hard  and  soft,  seem  all  affined  and  kin. 

Shakespeare,  Troilus  and  Cressida,  Act  i.  Sc.  3. 


ARTISAN — ASSASSINATE.  9 

Nor  would  I  dissuade  any  artist  well  grounded  in  Aristotle  from 
perusing  the  most  learned  works  any  Komanist  hath  written  in  this 
argument.  In  other  controversies  between  them  and  us  it  is  danger 
ous,  I  must  confess,  even  for  well-grounded  artists  to  begin  with  their 
writings,  not  so  in  this. 

Jackson,  Blasphemous  Positions  of  Jesuits,  Preface. 

Some  will  make  me  the  pattern  of  ignorance  for  making  this  Scali- 
ger  [Julius]  the  pattern  of  the  general  artist,  whose  own  son  Joseph 
might  have  been  his  father  in  many  arts. 

Fuller,  The  Holy  State,  b.  ii.  c.  8. 

ASCERTAIN.  Now  to  acquire  a  certain  knowledge 
of  a  thing,  but  once  to  render  the  thing  itself  certain. 
Thus,  when  Swift  wrote  a  pamphlet  having  this  title, 
"  A  Proposal  for  correcting,  improving,  and  ascertain 
ing-  the  English  Tongue,"  he  did  not  propose  to  obtain 
a  subjective  certainty  of  what  the  English  language 
was,  but  to  give  to  the  language  itself  an  objective 
certainty  and  fixedness. 

Success  is  intended  him  [the  wicked  man]  only  as  a  curse,  as  the 
very  greatest  of  curses,  and  the  readiest  way,  by  hardening  him  in  his 

sin,  to  ascertain  his  destruction. 

South,  Sermons,  vol.  v.  p.  286. 

ASSASSINATE.  Once  used,  by  Milton  at  least,  as  is 
now  the  French  '  assassiner,'  the  Italian  '  assassinare,' 
in  the  sense  of  to  assault  treacherously  and  with  mur 
derous  intent,  even  where  the  murderous  purpose  is 
not  accomplished ;  and  then,  secondly,  to  extremely 
maltreat. 

As  for  the  custom  that  some  parents  and  guardians  have  of  forcing 
marriages,  it  will  be  better  to  say  nothing  of  such  a  savage  inhumani- 

1* 


10  ASSASSINATE — ASTONISH. 

ty,  but  only  tlius,  that  the  law  which  gives  not  all  freedom  of  divorce 

to  any  creature  endued  with  reason,  so  assassinated,  is  next  in  cruelty. 

Milton,  The  Doctrine  and  Discipline  of  Divorce,  b.  i.  c.  12. 

Such  usage  as  your  honorable  lords 
Afford  me,  assassinated  and  betrayed — 

Id.,  Samson  Agonistes. 

ASSURE,     1  Both  this  and  '  to  ensure'  (q.  v.)  are 
ASSURANCE.  J  often  used  in  our  elder  writers  in  the 
sense  of  to  betroth  or  to  affiance. 

King  Philip.  Young  princes,  close  your  hands. 
Austria.  And  your  lips  too  ;  for  I  am  well  assured 
That  I  did  so,  when  I  was  first  assured. 

Shakespeare,  King  John,  Act  ii.  Sc.  2. 

I  myself  have  seen  Lollia  Paulina,  only  when  she  was  to  go  unto 
a  wedding  supper,  or  rather  to  a  feast  when  the  assurance  was  made, 
BO  beset  and  bcdeckt  all  over  with  emeralds  and  pearls. 

Holland,  Pliny,  part  i.  p.  256. 

ASTONISH.  '  To  astonish'  has  now  loosened  itself 
altogether  from  its  etymology,  '  attonare'  and  '  attoni- 
tus.'  The  man  '  astonished'  can  now  be  hardly  said 
to  be  '  thunderstruck,'  either  in  a  literal  or  a  figura 
tive  sense.  But  in  several  passages  of  Paradise  Lost 
we  shall  quite  fall  below  the  poet's  intention  unless 
we  read  this  meaning  into  the  word  ;  as  no  less  in  the 
prose  quotation  from  Milton  which  follows. 

The  knaves  that  lay  in  wait  behind  rose  up  and  rolled  down  two 
huge  stones,  whereof  the  one  smote  the  king  upon  the  head,  the  other 

astonished  his  shoulder. 

Holland,  Liry,  1124. 


ASTONISH — ATONE.  11 

The  cramp-fish  [the  torpedo]  knoweth  her  own  force  and  power, 
and  being  herself  not  benumbed,  is  able  to  astonish  others. 

Id.,  Pliny,  vol.  i.  p.  261. 

In  matters  of  religion,  blind,  astonished,  and  struck  with  supersti 
tion  as  with  a  planet ;  in  one  word,  monks. 

Milton,  The  History  of  England,  b.  ii. 

ASTROLOGY.  As  '  chemist'  only  little  by  little  dis 
engaged  itself  from  '  alchemist,'  and  that,  whether  we 
have  respect  to  the  thing  itself,  or  the  name  of  the 
thing,  so  '  astronomer'  from  l  astrologer,'  '  astronomy' 
from  '  astrology.'  It  was  long  before  the  broad  dis 
tinction  between  the  lying  art  and  the  true  science 
was  recognized  and  fixed  in  words. 

If  any  enchantress  should  come  unto  her,  and  make  promise  to 
draw  down  the  moon  from  heaven,  she  would  mock  these  women  and 
laugh  at  their  gross  ignorance,  who  suffer  themselves  to  be  persuaded 
for  to  believe  the  same,  as  having  learned  somewhat  in  astrology. 

Holland,  Plutarch's  Morals,  p.  324. 

ASTRONOMER.  See  what  has  been  said  on  the  word 
preceding. 

Bowe  ye  not  to  astronomyers,  neither  axe  ye  ony  thing  of  fals 

dyvynours. 

Levit.  xix.  31.  Wiclif. 

If  astronomers  say  true,  every  man  at  his  birth  by  his  constellation 
hath  divers  things  and  desires  appointed  him. 

Pilkington,  Exposition  upon  the  Prophet  Aggeus,  c.  i. 


ATONE,        )  The  notion  of  satisfaction  lies  now  in 
ATONEMENT,  j  these  words  rather  than  that  of  recon- 


1 2  ATONE — ATTORNEY. 

ciliation.  An  '  atonement'  is  the  satisfaction  of  a 
wrong  which  one  party  has  committed  against  anoth 
er,  not  the  reconciliation  of  two  estranged  parties. 
This  last,  however,  was  its  earlier  meaning ;  and  if 
the  word  may  be  divided  '  at-one-ment,'  as  probably 
it  may,  is  in  harmony  with  its  etymology.  Possibly 
men's  sense  of  the  great  Atonement  of  all,  as  resting 
on  a  satisfaction,  may  have  ruled  the  use  of  the  word. 

lie  and  Aufidius  can  no  more  atone 
Than  violentest  contrarieties. 

Shakespeare,  Coriolanus,  Act  iv.  Sc.  6. 

His  first  essay  succeeded  so  well,  Moses  would  adventure  on  a  sec 
ond  design,  to  atone  two  Israelites  at  variance. 

Fuller,  A  Pisgah  Sight  of  Palestine,  vol.  ii.  p.  92. 

Having  more  regard  to  their  old  variance  than  their  new  attonement. 
Sir  T.  More,  The  History  of  King  Richard  III. 

If  Sir  John  Falstaff  have  committed  disparagements  unto  you,  I 
am  of  the  Church,  and  will  be  glad  to  do  my  benevolence,  to  make 
atonements  and  compromises  between  you. 

Shakespeare,  The  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor,  Act  i.  Sc.  1. 

ATTORNEY.  Seldom  used  now  except  of  the  attor 
ney  at  law ;  being  one,  according  to  Blackstone's 
definition,  "  who  is  put  in  the  place,  stead,  or  turn  of 
another  to  manage  his  matters  of  law ;"  and  even  in 
this  sense  it  is  going  out  of  honor,  and  giving  way  to 
4  solicitor.'  But  formerly  any  who  in  any  cause  acted 
in  the  room,  behalf,  or  turn  of  another,  would  be 
called  his  '  attorney  :'  thus  Phillips  (New  World  of 
Words)  defines  attorney,  "  one  appointed  by  another 


ATTORNEY — AUTHENTIC.  13 

man  to  do  any  thing  in  his  stead,  or  to  take  upon  him 
the  charge  of  his  business  in  his  absence ;"  and  in 
proof  of  what  honorable  use  the  word  might  have,  I 
need  but  refer  to  the  quotation  which  immediately 
follows : — 

Our  everlasting  and  only  High  Bishop ;  our  only  attorney,  only 
mediator,  only  peacemaker  between  God  and  men. 

A  Short  Catechism,  1553. 

Attornies  are  denied  me, 
And  therefore  personally  I  lay  my  claim 
To  my  inheritance  of  free  descent. 

Shakespeare,  King  Richard  II.  Act  ii.  Sc.  3. 

Tertullian  seems  to  understand  this  baptism  for  the  dead,  de  vica- 
rio  baptismate,  of  baptism  by  an  attorney,  by  a  proxy,  which  should 

be  baptized  for  me  when  I  am  dead. 

Donne,  Sermons,  1640,  p.  794. 

AUTHENTIC.  A  distinction  drawn  by  Bishop  Wat 
son  between  i  genuine'  and  *  authentic'  has  been  often 
quoted  :  "  A  genuine  book  is  that  which  was  written 
by  the  person  whose  name  it  bears  as  the  author  of  it. 
An  authentic  book  is  that  which  relates  matters  of 
fact  as  they  really  happened."  Of  '  authentic'  he 
has  certainly  not  seized  the  true  force,  neither  do  the 
uses  of  it  by  good  writers  bear  him  out.  The  true 
opposite  to  au£sv<nxoV  in  Greek  is  oWe'dVoroc,  and  *  authen 
tic'  is  properly  having  an  author,  and  thus  coming  with 
authority,  authoritative ;  the  connection  of  i  author' 
and  '  authority'  in  our  own  language  giving  us  the 
key  to  its  successive  meanings.  Thus,  an  i  authentic' 
document  is,  in  its  first  meaning,  a  document  written 


14  AUTHENTIC AWKWARD. 

by  the  proper  hand  of  him  from  whom  it  professes  to 
proceed.  In  all  the  passages  which  follow  it  will  be 
observed  that  the  word  might  be  exchanged  for  '  au 
thoritative.' 

As  doubted  tenures,  which  long  pleadings  try, 
Autkentick  grow  by  being  much  withstood. 

Davenant,  Gondibert,  b.  ii. 

Which  letter  in  the  copy  his  lordship  read  over,  and  carried  the 
authentic  with  him. 

Hackct,  The  Life  of  Archbishop  Williams,  part  ii.  p.  24. 

It  were  extreme  partiality  and  injustice,  the  flat  denial  and  over 
throw  of  herself  [i.  e.  of  Justice],  to  put  her  own  authentic  sword  into 
the  hand  of  an  unjust  and  wicked  man. 

Milton,  EiicovoK\,iffTi}s,  c.  28. 

[A  father]  to  instil  the  rudiments  of  vice  into  the  unwary  flexible 
years  of  his  poor  children,  poisoning  their  tender  minds  with  the  irre 
sistible  authentic  venom  of  his  base  example  ! 

South,  Sennons,  vol.  ii.  p.  190;  cf.  vol.  viii.  p.  171. 

Men  ought  to  fly  all  pedantisms,  and  not  rashly  to  use  all  words 
that  are  met  with  in  every  English  writer,  whether  authentic  or  not. 

Phillips,  The  J\eiv  World  of  Words,  Preface  to  3d  edit. 

AWKWARD.  In  its  present  signification,  unhandy, 
ungainly,  maladroit;  which  yet  is  by  no  means  its 
earlier.  There  is  good  reason  to  think  that  the  same 
Anglo-Saxon  <  awcg'*  appears  equally  in  the  first  syl- 

*  The  'awk'  end  of  a  rod  is  the  'away'  end:  thus,  in  Golding's 

Ovid,  p.  179:  — 

She  sprinkled  us  with  bitter  juice  of  uncouth  herbs,  and  strakc 
The  awk  end  of  her  charmed  rod  upon,  our  heads. 

Or,  in  the  original : — 

Percutimurque  caput  converse  vcrberc  virgaa. 


AWKWARD BABE.  15 

lable  of  <  awkward'  and  c  wayward  ;'  that  the  two 
words,  therefore,  are  identical  in  meaning,  signifying 
alike,  untoward,  and  that,  whether  morally  or  physi 
cally,  perverse,  contrary,  sinister,  unlucky  ;*  all  ear 
lier  uses  of  the  word  bearing  out  this  view  of  it. 

With  awkward  wind  and  with  sore  tempest  driven 

To  fall  on  shore. 

Marlowe,  Edward  II.  Act  iv.  Sc.  6. 

The  beast  long  struggled,  as  being  like  to  prove 

An  awkward  sacrifice,!  but  by  the  horns 

The  quick  priest  pulled  him  on  his  knees  and  slew  him. 

Id.,  The  First  Book  of  Lucan. 

Was  I  for  this  nigh  wrecked  upon  the  sea, 

And  twice  by  awkward  wind  from  England's  bank 

Drove  back  again  unto  my  native  clime  ? 

Shakespeare,  2  Henry  VI.  Act  iii.  Sc.  2. 

But  time  hath  rooted  out  my  parentage, 
And  to  the  world  and  awkward  casualties 

Bound  me  in  servitude. 

Pericles,  Act  v.  Sc.  1 . 


B. 

BABE,  )  '  Doll'  is  of  late  introduction  into  the  Eng- 
BABY.  J  lish  language,  is  certainly  later  than  Dry- 
den.     '  Babe,'  4  baby,'  or  '  puppet,'  supplied  its  place. 

*  What  makes  matter,  say  they,  if  a  bird  sing  auke  or  crow  cross 

[si  occinuerit  avis  ]  ? 

Holland,  Livy,  o.  247. 

t  Non  grati  victima  sacri. 


16  BABE — BAFFLE. 

True  religion  .  .  .  stamleth  not  in  making,  setting  up,  painting, 
gilding,  clothing,  and  decking  of  dumb  and  dead  images  —  which  be 
but  great  puppets  and  babies  for  old  fools,  in  dotage  and  wicked  idola 
try,  to  dally  and  play  with. 

Homilies  ;  Sermon  against  Peril  of  Idolatry. 

But  all  as  a  poor  pedlar  did  he  wend, 
Bearing  a  truss  of  trifles  at  his  back, 
As  bells,  and  babes,  and  glasses,  in  his  pack. 

Spenser,  The  Shepherd's  Calendar,  May. 

Think  you  that  the  child  hath  any  notion  of  the  strong  contents  of 
riper  age  ?  or  can  he  possibly  imagine  there  are  any  such  delights  as 
those  his  babies  and  rattles  afford  him  ? 

Allestree,  Sermons,  part  ii.  p.  148. 


BACCHANAL.  This  would,  I  suppose,  be  used  now 
only  of  the  votaries  of  Bacchus  ;  but  it  was  once  more 
accurately  applied  to  the  orgies  celebrated  in  his 
honor. 

They  perform  there  certain  bacchanals  or  rites  in  the  honour  of 

Bacchus. 

Holland,  Plutarch's  Morals. 

So  bacchanals  of  drunken  riot  were  kept  too  much  in  London  and 
Westminster,  which  offended  many,  that  the  thanks  due  only  to  God 
should  be  paid  to  the  devil. 

Hacket,  The  Life  of  Archbishop  Williams,  part  i.  p.  165. 


BAFFLE.  Now  to  counterwork  and  to  defeat ;  but 
once  not  this  so  much  as  to  mock  and  put  to  shame, 
and,  in  the  technical  language  of  chivalry,  it  expressed 
a  ceremony  of  open  scorn  with  which  a  recreant  or 
perjured  knight  was  visited. 


BAFFLE — BASE.  17 

First  he  his  beard  did  shave  and  foully  shent, 
Then  from  him  reft  his  shield,  and  it  reversed, 
And  blotted  out  his  arms  with  falsehood  blent, 
And  himself  baffled,  and  his  arms  unhersed, 
And  broke  his  sword  in  twain,  and  all  his  armour  spersed. 

Spenser,  The  Fairy  Queen,  \.  3,  37. 

He  that  suffers  himself  to  be  ridden,  or  thro'  pusillanimity  or  sot- 
tishness  will  let  every  man  baffle  him,  shall  be  a  common  laughing 
stock  to  flout  at. 

Burton,  Anatomy  of  Melancholy,  part  ii.  sec.  3,  mem.  7. 

Alas,  poor  fool,  how  have  they  baffled  thee  ! 

Shakespeare,  Twelfth-Night,  Act  v.  Sc.  1 . 

BANQUET.  At  present  the  entire  course  of  any  sol 
emn  or  splendid  entertainment ;  but  '  banquet'  used 
generally  to  be  restrained  to  the  lighter  and  ornamen 
tal  dessert  or  confection  with  wine,  which  followed 
the  more  substantial  repast. 

I  durst  not  venture  to  sit  at  supper  with  you ;  should  I  have  re 
ceived  you  then,  coming  as  you  did  with  armed  men  to  banquet  with 
me?  [Convivam  me  tibi  committere  ausus  non  sum  ;  comissatorem  te 

cum  armatis  venientem  recipiam  ?] 

Holland,  Livy,  p.  1066. 

Then  was  the  banqueting-chamber  in  the  tilt-yard  at  Greenwich 
furnished  for  the  entertainment  of  these  strangers,  where  they  did  both 

sup  and  banquet. 

Cavendish,  The  Life  of  Cardinal  Wolsey. 

"We  '11  dine  in  the  great  room  ;  but  let  the  music 
And  banquet  be  prepared  here. 

Massinger,  The  Unnatural  Combat,  Act  iii.  Sc.  1 . 


BASE,       1  The  aristocratic   tendencies  of  speech 
BASENESS,  j  (tendencies  illustrated  by  the  word  '  ar- 


18  BASE — BATTLE. 

istocracy'  itself),  which  reappear  in  a  thousand  shapes, 
on  the  one  side  in  such  words,  and  their  usages,  as 
xaXoxctyatfo'c;,  eVieixfo,  f  noble,'  on  the  other  in  such  as 
4  villain,'  i  boor,'  '  knave,'  and  in  this  '  base,'  are  well 
worthy  of  accurate  observation.  Thus,  '  base'  always 
now  implies  moral  unworthiness  ;  but  did  not  so  once. 
'  Base'  men  were  no  more  than  men  of  humble  birth 
and  low  degree. 

But  virtuous  women  wisely  understand 

That  they  were  born  to  base  humility, 

Unless  the  heavens  them  lift  to  lawful  sovereignty. 

Spenser,  The  Fairy  Queen,  v.  5,  25. 

He  that  is  ashamed  of  base  and  simple  attire,  will  be  proud  of  gor 
geous  apparel,  if  he  may  get  it. 

Homilies;  Sermon  against  Excess  of  Apparel. 

By  this  means  we  imitate  the  Lord  Himself,  who  hath  abased  Him 
self  to  the  lowest  degree  of  baseness  in  this  kind,  emptying  Himself 
(Phil.  ii.  8),  that  Pie  might  he  equal  to  them  of  greatest  l>aseness. 

Rogers,  Naaman  the  Syrian,  p.  461. 

BATTLE.  Once  used  not  as  now  of  the  hostile  shock 
of  armies  ;  but  often  of  the  army  itself;  or  sometimes 
in  a  more  special  sense,  of  the  main  body  of  the  army, 
as  distinguished  from  the  van  and  rear. 

Each  battle  sees  the  other's  umbered  face. 

Shakespeare,  King  Henry  V.  Act.  iv.  Chorus. 

Richard  led  the  vanguard  of  English  ;  Duke  Odo  commanded  in 
the  main  battle  over  his  French  ;  James  of  Auvcrgne  brought  on  the 
Flemings  and  Brabanters  in  the  rear. 

Fuller,  The  Holy  War,  book  iii.  c.  11. 


BATTLE BEASTLY.  19 

Where  divine  blessing  leads  up  the  van,  and  man's  valour  brings 
up  the  battle,  must  not  victory  needs  follow  in  the  rear? 

Fuller,  A  Pisgah  Sight  of  Palestine,  vol.  i.  p.  174. 


BAWD.  Not  confined  once  to  one  sex  only,  but 
could  have  been  applied  to  pandar  and  pandaress 
alike. 

He  was,  if  I  shal  ycven  him  his  laud, 
A  theef,  and  eke  a  sompnour  and  a  baud. 

Chaucer,  The  Freres  Tale. 

One  Lamb,  a  notorious  impostor,  a  fortune-teller,  and  an  employed 

bawd. 

Racket,  The  Life  of  Archbishop  Williams,  part  ii.  p.  81. 

A  carrion  crow  he*  is,  a  gaping  grave, 

The  rich  coat's  moth,  the  court's  bane,  trencher's  slave, 

Sin's  and  hell's  winning  bated,  the  devil's  factoring  knave. 

P.  Fletcher,  The  Purple  Island,  c.  viii. 


BEASTLY,     1  We  translate  tfoj^a  4^»xo'v  (1  Cor.  xv. 

BEASTLINESS,  j  44)  '  a  natural  body  ;'  some  have  re 
gretted  that  it  was  not  rendered  '  an  animal  body.' 
This  is  exactly  what  Wiclif  meant  when  he  translated 
the  i  corpus  animale'  which  he  found  in  his  Vulgate, 
4  a  beastly  body.'  The  word  had  then  no  ethical  col 
oring  ;  nor,  when  it  first  acquired  such,  had  it  exactly 
that  which  it  now  possesses. 

It  is  sowen  a  beestli  bodi  ;  it  shal  rise  a  spiritual  bodi. 

1  Cor.  xv.  44.  Wiclif. 

Where  they  should  have  made  head  with  the  whole  army  upon  the 
Parthians,  they  sent  him  aid  by  small  companies;  and  when  they 

*  The  flatterer. 


20  BEASTLY — BLACKGUARD. 

were  slain,  they  sent  him  others  also.     So  that  by  their  beastliness  and 
lack  of  consideration  they  had  like  to  have  made  all  the  army  fly. 

North,  Plutarch's  Lives,  p.  769. 


BLACKGUARD.  The  scullions  and  other  meaner  re 
tainers  in  a  great  household,  who,  when  progress  was 
made  from  one  residence  to  another,  accompanied  and 
protected  the  pots,  pans,  and  other  kitchen  utensils, 
riding  among  them  and  being  smutted  by  them,  were 
contemptuously  styled  the  '  black  guard.'  It  is  easy 
to  trace  the  subsequent  history  of  the  word.  With  a 
slight  forgetfulness  of  its  origin,  he  is  now  called  a 
'  blackguard,'  who  would  have  been  once  said  to  be 
long  to  the  '  black  guard.' 

Close  unto  the  front  of  the  chariot  marchcth  all  the  sort  of  weavers 
and  embroderers ;  next  unto  whom  goeth  the  black  guard  and  kitch- 
enry. 

Holland,  Ammianus,  p.  12. 

A  lousy  slave,  that  within  this  twenty  years  rode  with  the  black 
guard  in  the  Duke's  carriage,  mongst  spits  and  dripping-pans. 

Webster,  The  White  Devil 

Thieves  and  murderers  took  upon  them  the  cross  to  escape  the 
gallows  ;  adulterers  did  penance  in  their  armour.  A  lamentable  case 
that  the  Devil's  blackguard  should  be  God's  soldiers  ! 

Fuller,  The  Holy  War,  b.  i.  c.  12. 

Dukes,  earls,  and  lords,  great  commanders  in  war,  common  sol 
diers  and  kitchin  boys  were  glad  to  trudge  it  on  foot  in  the  mire  hand 
in  hand,  a  duke  or  earl  not  disdaining  to  support  or  help  up  one  of 
the  black  guard  ready  to  fall,  lest  he  himself  might  full  into  the  mire, 
and  have  none  to  help  him. 

Jackson,  A  Treatise  of  the  Divine  Essence  and  Attributes,  b.  vi.  c.  28. 


BLEAK — BOOT.  21 

BLEAK.  It  is  not  often  that  '  bleak'  (=the  German 
i  bleich,'  pale,  white)  comes  out  so  clearly  in  its  ori 
ginal  identity  with  '  bleach'  as  in  the  following  quota 
tion.  I  do  not  myself  remember  to  have  met  another 
passage  of  the  kind. 

When  she  came  out,  she  looked  as  pale  and  as  bleak  as  one  that 
were  laid  out  dead. 

Foxe,  The  Book  of  Martyrs  ;  the  Escape  of  Agnes  WardalL 

BOMBAST.  Now  inflated  diction,  words  which,  sound 
ing  lofty  and  big,  have  no  real  substance  about  them. 
This,  which  is  now  the  sole  meaning,  was  once  only 
the  secondary  and  the  figurative,  '  bombast'  being  lit 
erally  the  cotton  wadding  with  which  garments  are 
stuffed  out  and  lined,  and  often  so  used  by  our  writers 
of  the  Elizabethan  period,  and  then  by  a  vigorous  im 
age  transferred  to  what  now  it  exclusively  means. 

Certain  I  am  there  was  never  any  kind  of  apparel  ever  invented, 
that  could  more  disproportion  the  body  of  man  than  these  doublets, 
stuffed  with  four,  five,  or  six  pound  of  bombast  at  the  least. 

Stubs,  The  Anatomy  of  Abuses,  p.  23. 

The  foresaid  merchants  transport  thither  ermines  and  grey  furs, 
with  other  rich  and  costly  skins ;  others  carry  clothes  made  of  cotton 

or  bombast. 

Hackluyt,  Voyages,  vol.  i.  p.  93. 

Bombast,  the  cotton-plant  growing  in  Asia. 

Phillips,  The  New  World  of  Words. 

BOOT.  I  do  not  know  the  history  of  the  word  '  boot' 
as  describing  one  part  of  a  carriage ;  but  it  is  plain 


22  BOOT — BRAT. 

that  not  the  luggage,  but  the  chief  persons,  used  once 
to  ride  in  the  '  boot.' 

His  coach  being  come,  lie  causeth  him  to  he  laid  in  softlv,  and  so 
he  in  one  boot,  and  the  two  chirurgeons  in  the  other,  they  drive  away 
to  the  very  next  country  house. 

Reynolds,  God's  Revenge  against  Murther,  b.  i.  hist.  1. 

He  [James  the  First]  received  his  son  into  the  coach,  and  found  a 
slight  errand  to  leave  Buckingham  behind,  as  he  was  putting  his  foot 

in  the  boot. 

Hacket,  The  Life  of  Archbishop  Williams,  part  i.  p.  196. 

BOUNTY.  The  tendency  to  accept  freedom  of  giv 
ing  in  lieu  of  all  other  virtues,  or  at  least  to  regard  it 
as  the  chiefest  of  all,  the  same  which  lias  brought 
*  charity'  to  be  for  many  identical  with  almsgiving, 
displays  itself  in  our  present  use  of  '  bounty,'  which, 
like  the  French  '  bonte,'  meant  goodness  once. 

For  tho  the  peple  have  no  gret  insight 
In  virtue,  he  considered  ful  right 
Hire  bountee,  and  disposed  that  he  wold 
Wedde  hire  only,  if  ever  he  wcdden  shold. 

Chaucer,  The  Clerkcs  Tale. 

Nourishing  meats  and  drinks  in  a  sick  body  do  lose  their  bounty, 
and  augmenteth  malady. 

Sir  T.  Elyot,  The  Governor,  b.  ii.  c.  7. 

BRAT,  the  same  word  as  '  brood,'  is  now  used  always 
in  contempt,  but  was  not  so  once. 

O  Israel,  O  household  of  the  Lord, 

O  Abraham's  brats,  O  brood  of  blessed  seed, 

O  chosen  sheep,  that  loved  the  Lord  indeed. 

Gascoigne,  DP  Profundls. 


BRAT — BRITAIN.  23 

Take  heed  how  thou  layest  the  bane  for  the  rats, 
For  poisoning  thy  servant,  thyself,  and  thy  brats. 

Tusser,  Points  of  Good  Husbandry. 


BRAVE,  )  The  derivation  of  4  brave'  is  altogether 
BRAVERY,  J  uncertain  (Diez,  p.  67)  ;  we  obtained  it 
in  the  sixteenth  century,  the  Germans  in  the  seven 
teenth  (Grimm  [s.  v.  '  brav']  says  during  the  Thirty 
Years'  War),  from  one  or  other  of  the  Romance  lan 
guages.  I  do  not  very  clearly  trace  by  what  steps  it 
obtained  the  meaning  of  showy,  gaudy,  rich,  which 
once  it  so  frequently  had,  in  addition  to  that  meaning 
which  it  still  retains. 

His  clothes  [St.  Augustine's]  were  neither  brave,  nor  base,  but 

comely. 

Fuller,  The  Holy  State,  b.  iv.  c.  10. 

If  he  [the  good  yeoman]  chance  to  appear  in  clothes  above  his 
rank,  it  is  to  grace  some  great  man  with  his  service,  and  then  he 

blusheth  at  his  own  bravery. 

Id.,  76.  b.  ii.  c.  18. 

Man  is  a  noble  animal,  splendid  in  ashes,  and  pompous  in  the 
grave,  solemnizing  nativities  arid  deaths  with  equal  lustre,  not  omit 
ting  ceremonies  of  bravery  in  the  infamy  of  his  nature. 

Sir  T.  Browne,  Hydriotaphia. 

There  is  a  great  festival  now  drawing  on,  a  festival  designed  chiefly 
for  the  acts  of  a  joyful  piety,  bufr  generally  made  only  an  occasion  of 

bravery. 

South,  Sermons,  vol.  ii.  p.  285. 

BRITAIN,  ^  The  distinction  between  these  is  perfect- 
BRITANY.  j  ly  established  now :   by  the  first  we  al 
ways  intend  Great  Britain  ;  by  the  second,  the  French 


24  BRITAIN — BULLION. 

duchy,  corresponding:  to  the  ancient  Armorica.  But 
it  was  long  before  this  usage  was  accurately  settled 
and  accepted  by  all.  By  '  Britany'  Great  Britain 
was  frequently  intended,  and  vice  versa.  Thus,  in 
each  of  the  passages  which  follow,  the  other  word 
than  that  which  actually  is  used  would  be  now  em 
ployed. 

He  [Henry  VII.]  was  not  so  averse  from  a  war,  but  that  he  was 
resolved  to  choose  it,  rather  than  to  have  Britain  carried  by  France, 
being  so  great  and  opulent  a  duchy,  and  situate  so  opportunely  to 
annoy  England,  either  for  coast  or  trade. 

Bacon,  History  of  King  Henry  VII. 

The  letter  of  Quintus  Cicero,  which  he  wrote  in  answer  to  that  of 
his  brother  Marcus,  desiring  of  him  an  account  of  Britany. 

Sir  T.  Browne,  Musceum  Clausum. 

And  is  it  this,  alas !  which  we 

(O  irony  of  words  !)  do  call  Great  Britany  ? 

Cowley,  The  Extasy. 

BULLION.  Now  uncoined,  unstamped  gold  or  silver, 
but  with  no  intimation  in  the  word  that  it  is  of  a  lower 
standard  than  that  which  has  passed  through  the  Mint. 
It  is  otherwise,  as  is  well  known,  with  the  French 
*  billon,'  which  is  "  toute  mitiere  d'or  ou  d'argent 
decriee,  et  qui  se  trouve  a  plus  bas  titre  que  celui 
d'ordonnance."  It  was  otherwise  also  once  with  our 
own  4  bullion.'  The  globular  hollow  buttons  now  re 
tained  only  on  the  dress  of  pages,  but  formerly  an 
ornament  of  gallants,  and  which  certainly  would  not 
have  been,  even  then,  of  any  very  precious  metal, 


BULLION — BUXOM.  25 

were  also  called  bullions ;  it  is  just  possible  that  a 
recollection  of  <  bulla,'  a  bubble,  may  have  cooperated 
here. 

In  his  French  doublet  with  his  blistered  bullions. 

Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  The  Beggars'  Bush,  Act  iv.  Sc.  4. 

Words,  whilom  flourishing, 
Pass  now  no  more,  but,  banished  from  the  court, 
Dwell  with  disgrace  among  the  vulgar  sort ; 
And  those  which  eld's  strict  doom  did  disallow, 
And  damn  for  bullion,  go  for  current  now. 

Sylvester,  Divine  Weeks  of  Du  Bartas,  Babylon. 


BUXOM.  The  modern  spelling  of  '  buxom'  (it  was 
somewhat,  though  not  much  better,  when  it  was  spelt 
4  bucksome')  has  quite  hidden  its  identity  with  the 
German  '  biegsam,'  '  beugsam,'  bendable,  pliable,  and 
so  obedient.  Ignorant  of  the  history  of  the  word,  and 
trusting  to  the  feeling  and  impression  which  it  con 
veyed  to  their  minds,  men  spoke  of  *  buxom  health' 
and  the  like,  meaning  by  this,  having  a  cheerful  come 
liness.  The  epithet  in  this  application  is  Gray's,  and 
Johnson  justly  finds  fau.  with  it.  Milton,  when  he 
joins  '  buxom'  with  <  blithe  and  debonair,'  and  Cra- 
shaw,  in  his  otherwise  beautiful  line — 

"  I  am  born 
Again  a  fresh  child  of  the  buxom,  morn" — 

show  that  already  for  them  the  true  meaning  of  the 
word,  common  enough  in  our  earlier  writers,  had 
passed  away. 

2 


26  BUXOM — BY   AND   BY. 

I  submit  myself  unto  this  holy  Church  of  Christ,  to  be  ever  buxom 
and  obedient  to  the  ordinance  of  it,  after  my  knowledge  and  power, 
by  the  help  of  God. 

Foxe,  Book  of  Martyrs ;  Examination  of  William  Thorpe. 

Buxom,  kind,  tractable,  and  pliable  one  to  the  other. 

Holland,  Fhitarch'x  Morals,  p.  316. 

[Love]  tyrannizeth  in  the  bitter  smarts 
Of  them  that  to  him  buxom  are  and  prone. 

Spenser,  The  Fairy  Queen,  iii.  2,  23. 


BY  AND  BY.  Now  a  future  more  or  less  remote 
from  the  actual  present ;  but  when  our  Version  of  the 
Bible  was  made,  the  nearest  possible  future.  The  in 
veterate  procrastination  of  men  has  put  '  by  and  by' 
farther  and  farther  off.  Already  in  Barrow's  time  it 
had  acquired  its  present  meaning. 

And  some  counselled  the  Archbishop  to  burn  me  by  and  by,  and 
some  other  counselled  him  to  drown  me  in  the  sea,  for  it  is  near  hand 

there. 

Foxe,  Book  of  Martyrs  ;  Examination  of  William  Thorpe. 

Give  me  by  and  by  [e^avrTu]  in  a  charger  the  head  of  John  the 

Baptist. 

Mark  vi.  25.  Authorized  Version. 

These  things  must  first  come  to  pass;  but  the  end  is  not  by  and 

by  [cv0£u$J. 

Luke  xxi.  9.  Authorized  Version. 

When  Demophantus  fell  to  the  ground,  his  soldiers  fled  by  and  by 

\cv9i>(  tfnyov]  upon  it. 

North,  Plutarch's  Liven,  p.  308. 


-*-**^--  ' 

CAITIFF  —  CAPITULATE.        /f  27 

//"V 

C  Library. 

uV 


CAITIFF.  The  same  word  as  c  captive  ;'  the  only 
difference  being  that  i  captive'  is  derived  directly  from 
the  Latin  *  caitiff,'  through  the  interposition  of  the 
Norman-French  ;  it  had  once  the  same  meaning  with 
it.  The  deep-felt  conviction  of  men  that  slavery  breaks 
down  the  moral  character,  a  chief  argument  against 
it,  but  unhappily  also  a  chief  difficulty  in  removing  it, 
this,  so  grandly  unfolded  by  Horace  (  Carm.  iii.  5), 
and  speaking  out  in  the  Italian  '  cattivo,'  in  the  French 
*  chetif,'  speaks  out  with  no  less  distinctness  in  the 
change  of  meaning  which  c  caitiff'  has  undergone,  sig 
nifying,  as  it  now  does,  one  of  a  base,  abject  disposi 
tion,  while  there  was  a  time  when  it  had  nothing  of 
this  in  it. 

Aristark,  myne  evene  caytyf  [concaptivus  metis,  Vulg.],  greetith 

you  wcl. 

Col  iv.  10.  Wiclif. 

The  riche  Croesus,  caitif  in  servage. 

Chaucer,  The  Knightes  Tale. 

Avarice  doth  tyrannize  over  her  caitife  and  slave,  not  suffering  him 
to  use  what  she  commanded  him  to  win 

Holland,  Plutarch's  Morals,  p.  208. 


CAPITULATE.  There  is  no  reason  why  the  reducing 
of  any  agreement  to  certain  heads  or  '  capital  a'  should 
not  be  called  <  to  capitulate,'  the  victor  thus  '  capitn- 


28  CAPITULATE — CARRIAGE. 

lating'  as  well  as  the  vanquished ;  and  the  present 
limitation  of  the  word's  use,  by  which  it  means  to 
surrender  on  certain  specified  terms,  is  quite  of  mod 
ern  introduction. 

Gclon  the  tyrant,  after  he  had  defeated  the  Carthaginians  near  to 
the  city  Himera,  when  he  made  peace  with  them,  capitulated,  among 
other  articles  of  treaty,  that  they  should  no  more  sacrifice  any  infants 

to  Saturn. 

Holland,  Plutarch's  Morals,  p.  405. 

He  [the  Emperor  Charles  V.]  makes  a  voyage  into  England,  and 
there  capitulates  with  the  King,  among  other  things,  to  take  to  wife 

his  daughter  Mary. 

Heylin,  History  of  the  Reformation. 

CARPET.  The  covering  only  of  floors  at  present, 
but  once  of  tables  as  well. 

In  the  fray  one  of  their  spurs  engaged  into  a  carpet  upon  which 
stood  a  very  fair  looking-glass  and  two  noble  pieces  of  porcelain,  drew 
all  to  the  ground,  broke  the  glass. 

Ilarleian  Miscellany,  vol.  x.  p.  189. 

Private  men's  halls  were  hung  with  altar-cloths ;  their  tables  and 
beds  covered  with  copes,  instead  of  carpets  and  coverlets. 

Fuller,  The  Church  History  of  Britain,  b.  vii.  §  2,  1. 

CARRIAGE.  Now,  that  which  carries,  or  the  act  of 
carrying ;  but  once,  that  which  was  carried,  and  thus 
baggage.  From  ignorance  of  this,  the  Authorized 
Translation,  at  Acts  xvii.  22,  has  been  often  found 
fault  with,  but  unjustly. 

Spartacus  charged  his  [Lentulus']  lieutenants  that  led  the  army, 
gave  them  battle,  overthrew  them,  and  took  all  their  carriage  [T)IV 

dnoaKtVriv  STrurruf]. 

North,  Plutarch's  Lives,  p.  470. 


CARRIAGE— CENSURE.  29 

And  David  left  his  carriage  [ra  ontin  avrov,  LXX.,  rightly]  in  the 
hand  of  the  keeper  of  the  carriage. 

1  Sam.  xvii.  22.  Authorized  Version. 


CATTLE.  This  and  *  chattel'  are  only  different  forms 
of  the  same  word.  At  a  time  when  wealth  mainly 
consisted  in  the  number  of  heads  of  cattle  (capita, 
capitalia),  the  word  which  designated  them  easily 
came  to  signify  all  other  kinds  of  property  as  well. 
(Note  the  well-known  parallel  in  '  pecus,'  and  '  pecu- 
nia,'  and  in  the  fact  that  our  English  i  fee'  is  the  Ger 
man  '  Vieh.')  At  a  later  day  this  was  found  to  have 
its  inconveniences ;  which  some  of  the  writers  of  the 
Elizabethan  age  sought  to  remedy  by  using  the  term 
4  quick  cattle,'  when  they  intended  live  stock  ;  so  Sir 
J.  Harrington  (Epigrams,  i.  91),  and  Puttenham 
(Art  of  English  Poesy,  b.  i.  c.  18).  The  distinction, 
however,  was  more  effectually  asserted  by  the  appro 
priating  of  the  several  forms  '  cattle'  and  <  chattel,' 
one  to  the  living,  the  other  to  the  dead. 

A  woraman  that  hadde  a  flux  of  blood  twelve  yeer,  and  hadde 
spendid  all  hir  catcl  [omnem  substantiam  suam,  Vulg.]  in  leechis. 

Luke  viii.  43,  44.  Wiclif. 

The  avaricious  man  hath  more  hope  in  his  catel  than  in  Jesu 

Christ. 

Chaucer,  The  Persones  Tale. 

CENSURE.  It  does  not  speak  well  for  the  charity 
of  men's  judgments,  that  '  censure,'  which  designated 
once  favorable  and  unfavorable  judgments  alike,  is 


30  CENSURE — CHAOS. 

now  restricted  to  unfavorable  ;  for  it  must  be  that  the 
latter,  being  by  far  the  most  frequent,  have  in  this 
way  appropriated  the  word  exclusively  to  themselves. 

His  [Richard,  Earl  of  Cornwall's]  voyage  was  variously  censured; 
the  Templars,  who  consented  not  to  the  peace,  flouted  thereat,  as  if  all 
this  while  he  had  laboured  about  a  difficult  nothing ;  others  thought 
he  had  abundantly  satisfied  any  rational  expectation. 

Fuller,  The  Holy  War,  b.  iv.  c.  8. 

— Which  could  not  be  past  over  without  this  censure;  for  it  is  an 

ill  thrift  to  be  parsimonious  in  the  praise  of  that  which  is  very  good. 

Hucket,  TJie  Life  of  Archbishop  Williams,  part  ii.  p.  13. 

CHAFFER.  Once,  to  buy,  to  make  a  bargain,  to  hig 
gle  or  dispute  about  the  making  of  a  bargain,  it  has 
at  length  seen  the  buying  or  bargaining  quite  disap 
pear  from  it ;  so  that  '  to  chaffer'  is  now  to  talk  much 
and  idly. 

That  no  man  overgo,  nether  disceyve  his  brother  in  chaffaringe  [in 

negotio,  Vulg.l. 

1  Thess.  iv.  6.  Wiclif. 

He  comaundid  his  servauntis  to  be  clepid,  to  whiche  he  hadde  gevo 
money :  to  witte  how  mvche  ech  had  wonne  by  chaffarynge. 

Luke  xix.  15.  Wiclif. 

Where  is  the  fair  flock  thou  was  wont  to  lead  ? 
Or  been  they  chajfred,  or  at  mischief  dead  ? 

Spenser,  The  Shepherd's  Calendar,  Eel.  9. 

CHAOS.  The  earliest  meaning  of  ^ao^  in  Greek,  of 
'chaos'  in  Latin,  was,  empty  infinite  space,  the  yawn 
ing  kingdom  of  darkness ;  only  a  secondary,  that 
which  we  have  now  adopted,  namely,  the  rude,  con- 


CHAOS — CHEER.  31 

fused,  inorganizcd  matter  out  of  which  the  universe 
according  to  the  heathen  cosmogony  was  formed. 
But  there  are  evidences  that  the  primary  use  of 
4  chaos'  was  not  strange  to  the  literature  of  the  six 
teenth  century. 

Beside  all  these  things,  between  us  and  you  there  is  fixed  a  great 
chaos,  that  they  which  will  pass  from  hence  to  you,  may  not. 

Luke,  xvi.  26.  Rheims. 

And  look  what  other  thing  soever  besides  cometh  within  the  chaos 
of  this  monster's  mouth,  be  it  beast,  boat,  or  stone,  down  it  goeth. 
incontinently  that  foul  great  swallow  of  his. 

Holland,  Plutarch's  Morals,  p.  975. 

CHEER.  Cicero,  who  loves  to  bring  out  superiori 
ties,  where  he  can  find  them,  of  the  Latin  language 
over  the  Greek,  urges  this  as  one,  that  the  Greek  has 
no  equivalent  to  the  Latin  '  vultus'  (Leg-,  i.  9,  27)  ; 
the  countenance,  that  is,  as  the  ever-varying  exponent 
of  the  sentiments  and  passions  of  the  soul.  Perhaps 
it  may  be  charged  on  the  English,  that  it  too  is  now 
without  such  a  word.  But  '  cheer,'  in  its  earlier  uses, 
of  which  certain  vestiges  still  survive,  was  exactly 
such. 

In  swoot  of  thi  cheer  thou  schalt  ete  thi  breed,  till  thou  turne  ayen 

in  to  the  erthe  of  which  thou  art  takun. 

Gen.  m.  19.  Wiclif. 

And  Cayn  was  wrooth  greetli,  and  his  cheer  felde  doun. 

Gen.  iv.  5.  Wiclif. 

Each  froward  threatening  cheer  of  fortune  makes  us  plain  ; 
And  every  pleasant  show  revives  our  woful  hearts  again. 

Surrey,  Ecclesiastes,  c.  3. 


32  CHEMIST — CHEST. 

CHEMIST,  )  The  distinction  between  the  alchemist 
CHEMISTRY,  j  and  the  chemist,  that  the  first  is  the 
dreamer,  the  insane  searcher  after  the  philosopher's 
stone  or  the  elixir  vitae,  the  other  the  follower  of  a 
true  and  scientific  method  in  a  particular  region  of 
nature,  is  of  comparatively  recent  introduction  into 
the  language.  '  Chemist'  is  =  '  alchemist'  in  the  quo 
tations  which  follow. 

Five  sorts  of  persons  he  [Sir  Edward  Coke]  used  to  foredesign  to 
misery  and  poverty;  chemists,  monopolizers,  concelers,  promoters, 

and  rythming  poets. 

Fuller,  The  Worthies  of  England,  Norfolk. 

I  have  observed  generally  of  chymists  and  theosophists,  as  of  sev 
eral  other  men  more  palpably  mad,  that  their  thoughts  are  carried 
much  to  astrology. 

H.  More,  A  brief  Discourse  of  Enthusiasm,  sect.  45. 

Hence  the  fool's  paradise,  the  statesman's  scheme, 
The  air-built  castle,  and  the  golden  dream, 
The  maid's  romantic  wish,  the  chejnist's  flame, 
The  poet's  vision  of  eternal  fame. 

Pope,  The  Dunciad,  b.  iii.  9-12. 

He  that  follows  chemistry  must  have  riches  to  throw  away  upon  the 
study  of  it;  whatever  he  gets  by  it,  those  furnaces  must  be  fed  with 
gold. 

South,  Sermons,  vol.  ix.  p.  277. 

CHEST.  I  am  not  aware  that  '  cista'  was  ever  used 
in  the  sense  of  a  coffin,  but  '  chest'  is  continually  so 
used  in  our  early  English  ;  and  '  to  chest,'  for  to  place 
in  a  coffin,  occurs  in  the  heading  of  a  chapter  in  our 
Bibles,  Gen.  1.  26  :  "  He  [Joseph]  dieth,  and  is  chest 
ed." 


CHEST — CHIVALRY.  33 

He  is  now  ded,  and  nailed  in  his  cheste. 

Chaucer,  The  Clerkes  Prologue. 

Your  body  is  now  wrapt  in  chest, 
I  pray  to  God  to  give  your  soul  good  rest. 

Hawes,  The  Pastime  of  Pleasure,  cap.  14. 

CHIMNEY.  This,  which  means  now  the  gorge  or 
vent  of  a  furnace  or  fire,  was  once  used  often  for  the 
furnace  itself ;  in  this  more  true  to  its  origin ;  being 
derived  from  the  Greek  xajuuvo^,  as  it  passed  into  the 
Latin  4  caminus,'  and  the  French  l  cheminee.'  The 
fact  that  it  is  the  '  chimney,'  in  the  modern  use  of  the 
word,  which,  creating  a  draught,  alone  gives  fierce 
ness  or  activity  to  the  flame,  probably  explains  the 
present  limitation  of  the  meaning  of  the  word.  In 
Scotland,  '  chimney'  still  is,  or  lately  was,  "  the  grate 
or  iron  frame  that  holds  the  fire,"  ( Scoticisms,  Edin 
burgh,  1787). 

And  his  feet  [were]  like  to  latoun  as  in  a  brennynge  chymeney. 

Rev.  i.  15.  Wiclif. 

The  Son  of  Man  shall  send  his  angels,  and  shall  gather  all  hin 
drances  out  of  his  kingdom  and  all  that  worketh  unlawfulness,  and 
shall  cast  them  into  the  chimney  of  fire. 

Matt.  xiii.  50.  Sir  John  Cheke. 

CHIVALRY.  It  is  a  striking  evidence  of  the  extent 
to  which  in  the  feudal  times  the  men-at-arms,  the 
mounted  knights,  were  esteemed  as  the  army,  while 
the  footmen  were  regarded  as  little  better  than  a  su 
pernumerary  rabble  —  another  record  of  this  contempt 
2* 


34  CHIVALRY — CHRISTEN. 

probably  surviving  in  the  word  'infantry' — that 
4  chivalry,'  which  of  course  is  but  a  different  form  of 
4  cavalry,'  could  once  be  used  as  convertible  with 
army.  It  needed  more  than  one  Agincourt  to  teach 
that  this  was  so  no  longer. 

Abymalach  forsothe  aroos,  and  Phicol,  the  prince  of  his  chyvalrye 
[princeps  exercitus  ejus,  Vulg.],  and  turneden  ayen  into  the  loond  of 
Palestynes. 

Gen.  xxi.  33.  Wiclif. 

CHRISTEN,  )  By  <  Christendom'  we  now  under- 
CHRISTENDOM.  j  stand  that  portion  of  the  world  which 
makes  profession  of  the  faith  of  Christ,  as  contradis 
tinguished  from  all  heathen  and  Mahomedan  lands. 
But  it  was  often  used  by  our  early  writers  as  itself 
the  profession  of  Christ's  faith,  or  sometimes  for  bap 
tism,  inasmuch  as  in  that  this  profession  was  made ; 
which  is  also  the  explanation  of  the  use  of  i  christen' 
as  equivalent  to  '  christianize'  below.  In  Shakespeare 
our  present  use  of '  Christendom'  very  much  predomi 
nates,  but  once  or  twice  he  uses  it  in  its  earlier  sense, 
as  do  authors  much  later  than  he. 

Most  part  of  England  in  the  reign  of  King  Ethelbert  was  christened, 
Kent  only  excepted,  which  remained  long  after  in  misbelief  and  un- 
christencd. 

E.  K.,  Gloss,  to  Spenser's  Shepherd's  Calendar,  Septeml>er. 

Sothli  we  ben  togidere  biried  with  him  bi  Christendom  [per  baptis- 
mum,  Vulg.]  in  to  death. 

Rom.  vi.  4.  Wiclif. 
By  my  Christendom, 

So  I  were  out  of  prison  and  kept  sheep, 
I  should  be  merry  as  the  day  is  long. 

Shakespeare,  Kiuy  John,  Act  iv.  Sc.  1. 


CHKLSTKN — CIVIL.  35 

They  all  do  come  to  him  with  friendly  face, 
When  of  his  Christendom  they  understand. 

Sir  J.  Harrington,  Orlando  Furioso,  b.  xliii.  c.  189. 

The  draughts  of  intemperance  would  wash  off  the  water  of  my 
Christendom ;  every  unclean  lust  docs  as  it  were  bemire  and  wipe  out 

my  contract  with  my  Lord. 

Allestree,  Sermons,  vol.  ii.  p.  161. 


CHURCH.  It  is  in  general  accounted  a  pure  over 
sight  on  the  part  of  our  Translators  that  they  have 
allowed  "  robbers  of  churches'"  to  remain  at  Acts  xix. 
37,  as  the  rendering  of  isporfuXous,  sounding,  as  it  does, 
like  an  anachronism  on  the  lips  of  the  town-clerk  of 
Ephesus.  Doubtless  u  spoilers  of  temples"  or  some 
such  phrase,  would  have  been  preferable ;  yet  was 
there  not  any  oversight  here.  The  title  of  '  church,' 
which  we  with  a  tit  reverence  restrain  to  a  Christian 
place  of  worship,  was  in  earlier  English  not  refused 
to  the  Jewish,  or,  as  in  that  place,  even  to  a  heathen, 
temple. 

And,  lo,  the  veil  of  the  church  was  torn  in  two  parts  from  the  top 

downwards. 

Matt,  xxvii.  51.  Sir  John  Cheke. 

To  all  the  gods  devoutly  she  did  offer  frankincense, 

But  most  above  them  all  the  church  of  Juno  she  did  cense. 

Golding,  Ovid's  Metamorphosis,  b.  xi. 

These  troops  should  soon  pull  down  the  church  of  Jove. 

Marlowe,  The  First  Book  of  Lucan. 

CIVIL,     )  The  tendency  which  there  is  in  the  mean- 
CIVILITY.  )  ing  of  words  to  run  to  the  surface,  till 


36  CIVIL. 

they  lose  and  leave  behind  all  their  deeper  signifi 
cance,  is  well  exemplified  in  the  words  '  civil'  and 
'civility'  —  words  of  how  deep  an  import  once,  how 
slight  and  shallow  now  !  A  civil  man  now  is  one  ob 
servant  of  slight  external  courtesies  in  the  mutual  in 
tercourse  between  man  and  man ;  a  civil  man  once 
was  one  who  fulfilled  all  the  duties  and  obligations 
flowing  from  his  position  as  a  '  civis,'  and  his  relations 
to  the  other  members  of  that  '  civitas'  to  which  he  be 
longed,  and  <  civility'  the  condition  in  which  those 
were  recognized  and  observed.  The  gradual  depart 
ure  of  all  deeper  significance  from  the  word  <  civility' 
has  obliged  the  creation  of  another  word,  '  civiliza 
tion/  which  only  came  up  toward  the  conclusion  of 
the  last  century.  Johnson  does  not  know  it  in  his 
Dictionary,  except  as  a  technical  legal  term  to  express 
the  turning  of  a  criminal  process  into  a  civil  one ; 
and,  according  to  Boswell,  altogether  disallowed  it  in 
the  sense  which  it  has  now  acquired. 

That  wise  and  civil  Roman,  Julius  Agricola,  preferred  the  natural 
wits  of  Britain  before  the  laboured  studies  of  the  French. 

Milton,  Areopagitica. 

As  for  the  Scythian  wandering  Nomades,  temples  sorted  not  with 
their  condition,  as  wanting  both  civility  and  settledness. 

Fuller,  The  Holy  State,  b.  iii.  c.  24. 

Then  were  the  Roman  fashions  imitated  and  the  gown ;  after  a 
while  the  incitements  also  and  materials  of  vice  and  voluptuous  life, 
proud  buildings,  baths,  and  the  elegance  of  banquet  ings ;  which  the 
foolisher  sort  called  civility,  but  was  indeed  a  secret  art  to  prepare 

them  for  bondage. 

Milton,  The  History  of  Enyland,  b.  ii. 


CIVIL—  CLUMSY.  37 

Let  us  remember  also  that  civility  and  lair  customs  were  but  in  a 
narrow  circle  till  the  Greeks  and  Romans  beat  the  world  into  better 

manners. 

J.  Taylor,  Ductor  Dubitantittm,  b.  ii.  c.  1,  §  19. 

The  last  step  in  this  [spiritual]  death  is  the  death  of  civility.  CiviL 
men  come  nearer  the  saints  of  God  than  others,  they  come  within  a 
step  or  two  of  heaven,  and  yet  are  shut  out. 

Preston,  Description  of  Spiritual  Death  and  Life,  1636,  p.  59. 


CLERGY.  The  use  of  '  clergy'  in  the  abstract  for 
learning  or  for  a  learned  profession,  is,  it  needs  hard 
ly  be  said,  the  result  of  the  same  conditions  which 
made  4  clerk'  equivalent  to  scholar. 

Was  not  Aristotle,  for  all  his  clergy, 

For  a  woman  wrapt  in  love  so  marvellously, 

That  all  his  cunning  he  had  soon  forgotten  1 

Hawes,  The  Pastime  of  Pleasure. 

Also  that  every  of  the  said  landlords  put  their  second  sons  to  learn 
some  clergy,  or  some  craft,  whereby  they  may  live  honestly. 

State  Papers,  State  of  Ireland,  1515,  vol.  ii.  p.  30. 

CLUMSY.  A  word  about  which  little  satisfactory 
has  as  yet  found  its  way  into  our  dictionaries ;  but 
although  of  no  very  frequent  use  in  our  early  litera 
ture  (it  does  not  once  occur  in  Shakespeare),  neither 
can  it  be  said  to  be  very  rare ;  and  where  it  occurs, 
it  is  in  a  sense  going  before  its  present,  namely,  in 
that  of  stiff,  rigid,  clumped  and  contracted  with  cold. 
It  is  familiar  to  all  how  '  clumsy,'  in  our  modern  use 
of  the  word,  the  fingers  are  when  in  this  condition, 
and  thus  it  is  easy  to  trace  the  growing  of  the  modern 


CLUMSY — CLIMATE. 

meaning  out  of  the  old.  There  arc  some  observations 
on  the  probable  etymology  of  the  word  in  the  Proceed 
ings  of  the  Philological  Society,  vol.  v.  p.  146. 

Rigido  ;  Stark,  stiffe,  or  num  through  cold,  chtmzie. 

Florio,  New  World  of  Words. 

Havidefroid;  Stiffe,  clwnpse,  benummcd. 

Cotgrave,  A  French  and  English  Dictionary. 

The  Carthaginians  followed  the  enemies  in  chase  as  far  as  Trebia, 
and  there  gave  over;  and  returned  into  the  camp  so  clumsy  and  frozen 
[et  ita  torpentes  gelu  in  castra  rediere]  as  scarcely  they  felt  the  joy  of 

their  victory. 

Holland,  Livy,  p.  425. 

This  bloom  of  budding  beauty  loves  not  to  be  handled  by  such 
nummed  and  so  chmsie  hands. 

Florio,  Montaign's  Essays,  b,  iii.  c.  5. 


CLIMATE.  At  present  the  temperature  of  a  region, 
but  once  the  region  itself — the  region,  however,  con 
templated  in  its  slope  or  inclination  from  the  equator 
toward  the  pole,  and  therefore,  by  involved  conse 
quence,  in  respect  of  its  temperature ;  which  circum 
stance  is  the  point  of  contact  between  the  present 
meaning  of '  climate'  and  the  past.  We  have  derived 
the  word  from  the  mathematical  geographers  of  anti 
quity.  They  were  wont  to  run  imaginary  parallel 
lines,  or  such  at  least  as  they  intended  should  be  par 
allel,  to  the  equator ;  and  the  successive  '  climates' 
(xXif/.ctTa)  of  the  earth  were  the  spaces  and  regions 
between  these  lines. 

When  these  prodigies 
Do  so  conjointly  meet,  let  not  men  say, 


CLIMATE — COMMON-SENSE.  39 

"These  are  their  causes  —  they  arc  natural;" 
For,  I  believe,  they  are  portentous  things 
Unto  the  climate  that  they  point  upon. 

Shakespeare,  Julius  Citsar,  Act.  i.  Sc.  3. 

This  climate  of  Gaul  [hanc  Galliarum  pfagam]  is  enclosed  on  every 
side  with  fences  that  environ  it  naturally. 

Holland,  Ammianus,  p.  47. 

Climate,  a  portion  of  the  earth  contained  between  two  circles  par 
allel  to  the  equator. 

Phillips,  The  New  World  of  Words. 


COMFORT,  |  The  verb  <  confortare,'  not  found  in 
COMFORTABLE.  J  classical  Latin,  but  so  frequent  in 
the  Vulgate,  is  first,  as  is  plain  from  the  4  fortis'  which 
it  embodies,  to  make  strong,  to  corroborate,  and  only 
in  a  secondary  sense,  to  console.  We  often  find  it  in 
our  early  literature  employed  in  that  its  proper  sense. 

And  the  child  wexed,  and  was  counfortid  [confortabatur,  Vulg.]  in 
spirit. 

Luke  i.  80.  Wiclif. 

And  there  appeared  an  angel  unto  Him  from  heaven,  comforting 

Him  [si'to'^ucji'  atfrdvl. 

Luke  xxii.  43.  Tyndale. 

Thy  conceit  is  nearer  death  than  thy  powers  ;  for  my  sake,  be  com 
fortable;  hold  death  awhile  at  the  arm's  end. 

Shakespeare,  As  you  like  it,  Act  ii.  Sc.  6. 


COMMON-SENSE.  The  manner  is  very  curious  in  which 
the  metaphysical  or  theological  speculations,  to  which 
the  busy  world  was  indifferent,  or  from  which  it  was 
entirely  averse,  do  yet  in  their  results  descend  to  it, 


40  COMMON-SENSE. 

and  arc  adopted  by  it ;  while  it  remains  quite  uncon 
scious  of  the  source  from  which  they  spring,  and  counts 
that  it  has  created  them  for  itself  and  out  of  its  own 
resources.  Thus,  probably  most  persons  would  al 
most  wonder  if  asked  the  parentage  of  this  phrase, 

*  common-sense,'  would  count  it  the  most  natural  thing 
in  the  world  that  such  a  phrase  should  have  been 
formed,  that  it  demanded  no  ingenuity  to  form  it, 
that  the  uses  to  which  it  is  now  put  are  the  same 
which  it  has  served  from  the  first.     Indeed,  neither 
Reid,  Beattie,  nor  Stewart,  seem  to  have  assumed  any 
thing  else.     But  in  truth  this  phrase,  i  common-sense,' 
meant  once  something  very  different  from  that  plain 
wisdom,  the  common  heritage  of  men,  which  now  we 
call  by  this  name,  having  been  bequeathed  to  us  by  a 
very  complex  theory  of  the  senses,  and  of  a  sense  which 
was  the  common  bond  of  them  all,  and  which  passed 
its  verdicts  on  the  reports  which  they  severally  made 
to  it.     This  theory  of  a  xoivo^  vou.c,  familiar  to  the  Greek 
metaphysicians,  is  sufficiently  explained  by  the  inter 
esting  quotation  from  Henry  More.     In  Hawes'  Pas 
time  of  Pleasure  (cap.  24)  the  relation  between  the 

*  common  wit'  and  the  '  five  wits'  is  at  large  set  forth. 

But  for  fear  to  exceed  the  commission  of  an  historian  (who  with 
the  outward  senses  may  only  bring  in  the  species,  and  barely  relate 
facts,  not  with  the  common  sense  pass  verdict  or  censure  on  them),  I 
would  say  they  had  better  have  built  in  some  other  place,  especially 
having  room  enough  besides,  and  left  this  floor,  where  the  Temple 

stood,  alone  in  her  desolations. 

Fuller,  The  Holy  War,  b.  i.  c.  4. 


COMMON-SENSE — CONCEITED.  41 

That  there  is  some  particular  or  restrained  seat  of  the  common  sense 
is  an  opinion  that  even  all  philosophers  and  physicians  are  agreed 
upon.  And  it  is  an  ordinary  comparison  amongst  them,  that  the  ex 
ternal  senses  and  the  common  sense  considered  together  are  like  a  circle 
with  five  lines  drawn  from  the  circumference  to  the  centre.  Where 
fore,  as  it  has  been  obvious  for  them  to  find  out  particular  organs  for 
the  external  senses,  so  they  have  also  attempted  to  assign  some  dis 
tinct  part  of  the  body  to  be  an  organ  of  the  common  sense;  that  is  to 
say,  as  they  discovered  sight  to  be  seated  in  the  eye,  hearing  in  the 
ear,  smelling  in  the  nose,  &c.,  so  they  conceived  that  there  is  some 
part  of  the  body  wherein  seeing,  hearing,  and  all  other  perceptions 
meet  together,  as  the  lines  of  a  circle  in  the  centre,  and  that  there  the 
soul  does  also  judge  and  discern  of  the  difference  of  the  objects  of 

the  outward  senses. 

H.  More,  Immortality  of  the  Soul,  b.  iii.  c.  13. 


COMPANION.  "  The  term  '  companion'  was  formerly 
used  contemptuously,  in  the  same  way  in  which  we 
still  use  its  synonyme  '  fellow.'  The  notion  originally 
involved  in  companionship,  or  accompaniment,  would 
appear  to  have  been  rather  that  of  inferiority  than  of 
equality.  A  companion  (or  comes)  was  an  attend 
ant."  Craik,  English  of  Shakespeare,  p.  255. 

I  scorn  you,  scurvy  companion. 

Shakespeare,  2  Henry  IV.  ii.  4. 

The  young  ladies,  who  thought  themselves  too  much  concerned  to 
contain  themselves  any  longer,  set  up  their  throats  all  together  against 
my  protector.  "  Scurvy  companion  !  saucy  tarpaulin  !  rude,  imperti 
nent  fellow  !  did  he  think  to  prescribe  to  grandpapa !" 

Smollett,  Roderick  Random,  vol.  i.  c.  3. 

CONCEITED,   )  '  Conceit'  is  so  entirely  and  irrecov- 
CONCEITEDLY.  J  erably  lost  to  the  language  of  phi- 


42  CONCEITED — COPY. 

losophy,  that  it  would  be  well  if  '  concept,'  used  often 
by  our  earlier  philosophical  writers,  were  revived. 
Yet  '  conceit'  has  not  so  totally  forsaken  all  its  for 
mer  meanings  (for  there  are  still  '  happy  conceits'  in 
poetry),  as  have  4  conceited,'  which  once  meant  well 
conceived,  and  '  conceitedly.' 

Oft  did  she  heave  her  napkin  to  her  cync, 
Which  had  on  it  conceited  characters. 

Shakespeare,  A  Lover's  Complaint. 

Triumphal  arches  the  glad  town  doth  raise, 
And  tilts  and  tourneys  are  performed  at  court, 
Conceited  masques,  rich  banquets,  witty  plays. 

Dray  ton,  The  Miseries  of  Queen  Margaret. 

Cicero  most  pleasantly  and  conceitedly. 

Holland,  Suetonius,  p.  21. 

CONCUBINE.  No  notice  is  taken  in  our  dictionaries 
that  the  male  paramour  as  well  as  the  female  was 
sometimes  called  by  this  name  ;  on  the  contrary,  their 
definitions  exclude  this. 

The  Lady  Anne  did  falsely  and  traitcrouslv  procure  divers  of  the 
King's  daily  and  familiar  servants  to  he  her  adulterers  and  concubines. 

Indictment  of  Anne  Boleyn. 

COPY.  A  more  Latin  use  of  '  copy,'  as  '  copia'  or 
abundance,  was  at  one  time  frequent  in  English.  It 
is  easy  to  trace  the  steps  by  which  the  word  attained 
its  present  significance.  The  only  way  to  obtain 
4  copy'  (in  this  Latin  sense)  or  abundance  of  any  doc- 


COPY — COURTESAN.  43 

ument,  would  be  by  taking  '  copies'  (in  our  present 
sense)  of  it. 

We  cannot  follow  a  better  pattern  for  elocution  than  God  Himself. 
Therefore  He,  using  divers  words  in  his  Holy  Writ,  and  indifferently 
for  one  thing  in  nature,  we  may  use  the  same  liberty  in  our  English 
versions  out  of  Hebrew  or  Greek,  for  that  copy  or  store  that  He  hath 

given  us. 

The  Translators  [of  the  Bible,  1611]  to  the  Reader. 

Drayton's  heroical  epistles  are  well  worth  the  reading  also,  for  the 
purpose  of  our  subject,  which  is  to  furnish  an  English  historian  with 

choice  and  copy  of  tongue. 

Bolton,  Hypercritica,  p.  235. 

CORPSE.  Now  only  used  for  the  body  abandoned 
by  the  spirit  of  life,  but  once  for  the  body  of  the  liv 
ing  man  equally  as  of  the  dead  ;  now  only  = '  cadaver,' 
but  once  *  corpus'  as  well. 

A  valiant  corpse,  where  force  and  beauty  met. 

Surrey,  On  the  Death  of  Sir  T.  Wyatt. 

But  naked,  without  needful  vestiments 
To  clad  his  corpse  with  meet  habiliments, 
He  cared  not  for  dint  of  sword  or  spear. 

Spenser,  The  Fairy  Queen,  b.  vi.  c.  4. 

Your  conjuring,  cozening,  and  your  dozen  of  trades 
Could  not  relieve  your  corps  with  so  much  linen 
Would  make  you  tinder,  but  to  see  a  fire. 

Ben  Jonson,  The  Alchemist,  Act  i.  Sc.  1 . 

COURTESAN.  The  Low  Latin  '  cortesanus'  was  once 
one  haunting  the  court,  a  courtier,  '  aulicus,'  though 
already  in  Shakespeare  we  often  meet  the  present  ap 
plication  of  the  word. 


44  COURTESAN — CUNNING. 

By  the  wolf,  no  doubt,  was  meant  the  Pope,  but  the  fox  was  re 
sembled  to  the  prelates,  courtesans,  priests,  and  the  rest  of  the  spiritu 
ality. 

Foxe,  The  Book  of  Martyrs,  ed.  1641,  vol.  i.  p.  511. 


CUNNING.  The  fact  that  so  many  words  implying 
knowledge,  art,  skill,  obtain  in  course  of  time  a  sec 
ondary  meaning  of  crooked  knowledge,  art  which  has 
degenerated  into  artifice,  skill  used  only  to  circum 
vent,  which  meanings  partially  or  altogether  put  out 
of  use  their  primary,  is  a  mournful  witness  to  the  way 
in  which  intellectual  gifts  arc  too  commonly  misap 
plied.  Thus,  there  was  a  time  when  the  Latin  '  do- 
lus'  required  the  epithet  '  rnalus,'  as  often  as  it  signi 
fied  a  treacherous  or  fraud ful  device ;  but  it  was 
soon  able  to  drop  this  as  superfluous,  and  to  stand  by 
itself.  Other  words  which  have  gone  the  same  down 
ward  course  are  the  following :  T=p£v*j,  i  astutia,'  '  cal- 
liditas,'  '  List,'  '  Kunst,'  and  our  English  i  cunning'  — 
the  last,  indeed,  as  early  as  Lord  Bacon,  who  says, 
"  We  take  cunning-  for  a  sinister  or  crooked  wisdom," 
had  acquired  what  is  now  its  only  acceptation ;  but 
not  then,  nor  till  long  after,  to  the  exclusion  of  its 
more  honorable  use.  How  honorable  that  use  some 
times  was,  my  first  quotation  will  testify. 

I  believe  that  all  these  three  Persons  [in  the  Godhead]  are  even  in 
power  and  in  cunning  and  in  mi^ht,  full  of  grace  and  of  all  goodness. 
Foxe,  The  Book  of  Martyrs ;   Confession  of  Faith, 
by  William  Thorpe. 

So  the  number  of  them,  with  their  brethren,  that  were  instructed 


CUNNING — DANGER.  45 

in  the  songs  of  the  Lord,  even  all  that  were  cunning,  was  two  hundred 

fourscore  and  eight. 

1  Chron.  xxv.  3.  Authorized  Version. 


CURATE.  Rector,  vicar,  every  one  having  cure  of 
souls,  was  a  *  curate'  once.  Thus,  '  bishops  and  cu 
rates'  in  the  Liturgy. 

They  [the  begging  friars]  letten  cnrats  to  know  Gods  law  by  hold 
ing  bookes  fro  them,  and  withdrawing  of  their  vantages,  by  which 
they  shulden  have  books  and  lerne. 

Wiclif,  Treatise  against  the  Friars,  p.  56. 

Henry  the  Second  of  England  commanded  all  prelates  and  curates 
to  reside  upon  their  dioceses  and  charges. 

J.  Taylor,  Ductor  Dubitantium,  b.  iii.  c.  1. 

Curate,  a  parson  or  vicar,  one  that  serves  a  cure,  or  has  the  charge 
of  souls  in  a  parish. 

Phillips,  The  New  World  of  Words. 


D. 

DANGER,     )  A  feudal  term,  beset  witl? 

DANGEROUS,  j  culties  in  its  passage  to  its  present  use. 
Du  Cange  has  written  upon  it,  and  Diez,  and  there  is 
a  careful  article  in  Richardson.  It  is  a  Low  Latin 
word,  '  dangerium,'  of  which  the  etymology  is  uncer 
tain,  signifying  the  strict  right  of  the  suzerain  in  re 
gard  to  the  fief  of  the  vassal ;  thus,  *  fief  de  danger? 
a  fief  held  under  strict  and  severe  conditions,  and 
therefore  in  danger  of  being  forfeited  (juri  stricto 


46  DANCER — DEADLY. 

atque  adeo  confiscation!  obnoxium  ;  Du  Cange).  There 
is  no  difficulty  here  ;  but  there  is  another  early  use  of 
4  danger'  and  '  dangerous'  which  is  not  thus  explained, 
nor  yet  the  connection  between  it  and  the  modern 
meaning  of  the  words.  I  refer  to  that  of '  danger'  in 
the  sense  of  4  coyness,'  '  sparingness,'  i  niggardliness,' 
and  of  '  dangerous'  with  the  adjectival  uses  corre 
sponding. 

And  if  thy  voice  is  faire  and  clere, 
Thou  shall  maken  no  great  daungere, 
When  to  singcn  they  goodly  pray ; 
It  is  thy  worship  for  to  obay. 

Chaucer,  The  Romaunt  of  the  Rose,  2317-2320. 

We  ourselves  also  were  in  times  past  unwise,  disobedient,  deceived, 
in  daunger  to  lusts  [3ov\evovres  enflv/iuHj]. 

Tit.  iii.  3.  Tyndale. 

Come  not  within  his  danger  by  thy  will. 

Shakespeare,  Venus  and  Adonis. 

My  wages  ben  full  streyt  and  eke  ful  smale ; 
My  lord  to  me  is  hard  and  daungerous. 

Chaucer,  The  Friars  Tale. 
But  nathelesse,  for  his  beaute 
So  fierce  and  dangerous  was  he, 
That  he  nolde  graunten  her  asking, 
For  weeping,  ne  for  faire  praying. 

Id.,  The  Romaunt  of  the  Rose,  1480-1484. 

DEADLY.  This  and  '  mortal*  are  often  synonymes 
now  ;  thus,  <  a  deadly  wound'  or  *  a  mortal  wound :' 
but  they  arc  not  invariably  so  ;  '  deadly'  being  always 
active,  while  '  mortal'  is  often  passive,  and  signifying 


DEADLY — DEFALCATION.  47 

not  that  which  inflicts  death,  but  that  which  suffers 
death  ;  thus, '  a  mortal  body,'  or  body  subject  to  death, 
but  not  now  '  a  deadly  body.'  It  was  otherwise  once. 
'  Deadly'  is  the  constant  word  in  Wiclif 's  Bible, 
wherever  in  the  later  versions  '  mortal'  occurs. 

Elye  was  a  deedli  man  lyk  us,  and  in  preier  he  preiede  that  it 
schulde  not  reyne  on  the  erthe,  and  it  reynede  not  three  yeeris  and 

sixe  monethis. 

Jam.  v.  17.  Wiclif. 

Many  holy  prophets  that  were  deadly  men  were  martyred  violently 
in  the  Old  Law. 

Foxe,  The  Book  of  Martyrs;   William  Thorpe's  Examination. 

DEFALCATION.  A  word  at  present  of  very  slovenly 
and  inaccurate  use.  We  read  in  the  newspapers  of  a 
4  defalcation'  of  the  revenue,  not  meaning  thereby  an 
active  lopping  off  ('  defalcatio')  of  certain  taxes  with 
their  proceeds,  which  would  be  the  only  correct  use, 
but  a  passive  falling  short  in  its  returns  from  what 
they  previously  were.  Can  it  be  that  some  confusion 
of '  defalcation'  with  '  default,'  or  at  least  a  seeing  of 
4  fault'  and  not  '  falx'  in  its  second  syllable  (there 
was  once  a  verb  '  to  defalk'),  has  led  to  this  ? 

My  first  crude  meditations,  being  always  hastily  put  together, 
could  never  please  me  so  well  at  a  second  and  more  leisurable  review, 
as  to  pass  without  some  additions,  defalcations,  and  other  alterations, 

more  or  less. 

Sanderson,  Sermons,  1671,  Preface. 

As  for  their  conjecture  that  Zorobabel,  at  the  building  of  this  tem 
ple  purposely  abated  of  those  dimensions  assigned  by  Cyrus,  as  too 
great  for  him  to  compass,  in  such  defalcation  of  measures  by  Cyrus 


48  DEFALCATION — DEFY. 

allowed,  he  showed  little  courtship  to  his  master  the  emperor,  and 
less  religion  to  the  Lord  his  God. 

Fuller,  A  Pisgah  Sight  of  Palestine,  b.  iii.  c.  2. 

DEFEND.  Now  to  protect,  but  once  to  protect  by 
prohibiting,  or  fencing  round,  to  forbid,  as  <  defendre' 
is  still  in  French. 

The  sin  of  maumetrie  is  the  first  that  is  defended  in  the  Ten  Com 
mandments. 

Chaucer,  The  Parsons  Tale. 

When  can  you  say  in  any  manner  age 
That  ever  God  defended  marriage  ? 

Id.,  The  Wife  of  Baths  Tale. 


DEFY,  )  This  means  now  to  dare  to  the  utter- 
DEFIANCE.  j  most  hostility,  and  so,  as  a  consequence 
which  will  often  follow  upon  this,  to  challenge.  But 
in  earlier  use  '  to  defy'  is,  according  to  its  etymology, 
to  pronounce  all  bonds  of  faith  and  fellowship  which 
existed  previously  between  the  deficr  and  the  defied 
to  be  wholly  dissolved,  so  that  nothing  of  treaty  or 
even  of  the  natural  faith  of  man  to  man  shall  hence 
forth  hinder  extrcmest  hostility  between  them.  But 
still,  when  we  read  of  one  potentate  sending  i  defi 
ance'  to  another,  the  challenge  to  conflict  did  not  lie 
necessarily  in  the  word,  however  such  a  message  might 
provoke  and  would  often  be  the  prelude  to  this :  it 
meant  but  the  releasing  of  himself  from  all  which 
hitherto  had  mutually  obliged  ;  and  thus  it  came  often 
to  mean  simply  to  disclaim,  or  renounce. 


DEFY — DELICACY.  49 

No  man  speaking  in  the  Spirit  of  God  defieth  Jesus  [\iyct  (ivade^a. 

'1  Iff  oil]. 

1  Cor.  xii.  3.  Tyndale. 

All  studies  here  I  solemnly  defy, 

Save  how  to  gall  and  pinch  this  Bolingbroke. 

Shakespeare,  1  Henry  IV,  Act  i.  Sc.  8. 

There  is  a  double  people-pleasing.  One  sordid  and  servile,  made 
of  falsehood  and  flattery,  which  I  defy  and  detest. 

Fuller,  The  Appeal  of  Injured  Innocence,  p.  38. 

Now  although  I  instanced  in  a  question  which  by  good  fortune 
never  came  to  open  defiance,  yet  there  have  been  sects  formed  upon 

lighter  grounds. 

J.  Taylor,  The  Liberty  of  Prophesying,  §  3.  5. 

DELAY.  Like  the  French  *  delayer,'  used  often  in 
old  time  where  we  should  now  employ  '  allay.'  Out 
of  an  ignorance  of  this,  and  assuming  it  a  misprint, 
some  modern  editors  of  our  earlier  authors  have  not 
scrupled  to  change  <  delay'  into  '  allay.' 

The  watery  showers  delay  the  raging  wind. 

Surrey,  The  Faithful  Lover. 

Even  so  fathers  ought  to  delay  their  eager  reprehensions  and  cut 
ting  rebukes  with  kindness  and  clemency. 

Holland,  Plutarch's  Morals,  p.  16. 

Cup-bearers  know  well  enough  and  in  that  regard  can  discern  and 
distinguish,  when  they  are  to  use  more  or  less  water  to  the  delaying 
of  wines. 

Id.,  Ib.  p.  652. 

DELICACY,  ^  In  the  same  way  as  self-indulgence 
DELICATELY,  I  creeps  over  us  by  unmarked  degrees, 
DEMCIOUS,  [so  there  creeps  over  the  words  that 
LY.  J  designate  it  a  subtle  change ;  they 
3 


50  DELICACY — DEMERIT. 

come  to  contain  less  and  less  of  rebuke  and  blame ; 
the  thing  itself  being  tolerated,  nay  allowed,  it  must 
needs  be  that  the  words  which  express  it  should  bo 
received  into  favor  too.  It  has  been  thus,  as  I  shall 
have  occasion  to  note,  with  '  luxury  ;'  it  lias  been  thus 
also  with  this  whole  group  of  words. 

Thus  much  of  (l-Hcary  in  general;   now  more  particularly  of  his 

first  branch,  gluttony. 

Nash,  Christ's  Tears  over  Jerusalem,  p.  140. 

Cephisodorus,  the  disciple  of  Isocrates,  charged  him  with  delicacy, 

intemperance,  and  glutton}'. 

Blount,  Philostratus,  p.  229. 

She  that  liveth  delicately  [vxaTn\<~<ra\  is  dead  while  she  liveth. 

1  Tim.  v.  6.  Authorized  Version  (margin). 

Yea,  soberest  men  it  [idleness]  makes  delicious. 

Sylvester,  Du  Dartas,  Second  Week,  Eden. 

How  much  she  hath  glorified  herself  and  lived  deliriously  [iarprivlaae], 
so  much  torment  and  sorrow  give  her. 

Rev.  xviii.  7.  Authorized  Version. 

DEMERIT.  It  was  plainly  an  inconvenient  arrange 
ment,  a  squandering  of  the  wealth  of  the  language, 
that  '  merit'  and  '  demerit'  should  mean  one  and  the 
same  thing ;  however  this  might  be  justified  by  the 
fact  that  '  mereor'  and  '  dcmcrcor,'  from  which  they 
were  severally  derived,  were  scarcely  discriminated 
in  meaning.  It  has  thus  come  to  pass,  according  to 
the  dcsynonyrnizing  processes  ever  at  work  in  a  lan 
guage,  that  *  demerit'  has  ended  in  being  employed 
only  of  ill  desert,  while  '  merit'  is  left  free  to  good  or 
ill,  having  predominantly  the  sense  of  the  former. 


DEMERIT — DEMURE.  51 

I  fetch  my  life  and  being 
From  men  of  royal  siege  ;  and  my  demerits 
May  speak,  unbonneted,  to  as  proud  a  fortune 
As  this  that  I  have  reached. 

Shakespeare,  Othello,  Act  i.  Sc.  2. 

By  our  profane  and  unkind  civil  wars  the  world  is  grown  to  this 
pass,  that  it  is  reputed  a  singular  demerit  and  gracious  act,  not  to  kill 
a  citizen  of  Rome,  but  to  let  him  live. 

Holland,  Pliny,  vol  i.  p.  456. 

But  the  Rhodians,  contrariwise,  in  a  proud  humour  of  theirs,  reck 
oned  up  a  beadroll  of  their  demerits  toward  the  people  of  Rome. 

Id.,  Livy.  1179. 


DEMURE,  )  Used  by  our  earlier  writers  without 
DEMURENESS.  j  the  insinuation,  which  is  now  always 
latent  in  it,  that  the  external  shows  of  modesty  and 
sobriety  rest  upon  no  corresponding  realities.  On 
the  contrary,  the  '  demure'  was  the  truly  modest  and 
virtuous  and  the  good.  It  is  one  of  the  many  words 
to  which  the  suspicious  nature  of  man,  with  the  war 
rants  to  a  certain  extent  which  these  suspicions  find, 
has  given  a  turn  for  the  worse. 

These  and  other  suchlike  irreligious  pranks  did  this  Dionysius 
play,  who  notwithstanding  fared  no  worse  than  the  most  demure  and 
innocent,  dying  no  other  death  than  what  usually  other  mortals  do. 

H.  More,  The  Antidote  against  Atheism,  b.  iii.  c.  1. 

Which  advantages  God  propounds  to  all  the  hearers  of  the  Gospel, 
without  any  respect  of  works  or  former  demureness  of  life,  if  so  be 
they  will  but  now  come  in  and  close  with  this  high  and  rich  dispensa 
tion. 

Id.,  On  Godli'm-fts,  b.  viii.  c.  5. 


52  DEMURE — DEPRAVE. 

In  like  manner  women  also  in  comely  attire ;  with  demureness  [cum 
verecundiu,  Vulg.]  and  sobriety  adorning  themselves. 

1  Tim.  ii.  9.  Rheims. 


DEPART.  Once  used  as  equivalent  with  i  to  sepa 
rate'  —  a  fact  already  forgotten,  when,  at  the  last  re 
vision  of  the  Prayer-Book  in  1661,  the  Puritan  divines 
objected  to  the  form  as  it  then  stood  in  the  Marriage 
Service,  'till  death  us  depart?  in  condescension  to 
whose  objection  the  words,  as  we  now  have  them, 
1  till  death  us  do  partj  were  introduced. 

And  he  schal  departe   hem  atwynne,  as   a  schepherde  departith 

scheep  fro  kid  us. 

Matt.  xxv.  32.  Wiclif. 

And  \yhanne  he  hadde  seid  this  thing,  discencioun  was  made  be-' 
twixe  the  furisies  and  the  saduceis,  and  the  multitude  was  departid. 

Acts  xxiii.  7.  Id. 

Neither  did  the  apostles  put  away  their  wives,  after  they  were  called 
unto  the  ministry;  but  they  continued  with  their  wives  lovingly  and 
faithfully,  till  death  departed  them. 

Becon,  An  Humble  Supplication  unto  God 


DEPRAVE.  As  i  pravus'  is  literally  crooked,  we  may 
say  that  '  to  deprave'  was  formerly  '  untruly  to  present 
as  crooked,'  to  defame  ;  while  it  is  now  '  wickedly  to 
make  crooked.' 

That  lie,  and  cog,  and  flout,  deprave,  and  slander. 

Shakespeare,  Much  Ado  about  Nothing,  Act  v.  Sc.  1  . 

If  affection  lead  a  man  to  favour  the  less  worthy  in  desert,  let  him 
do  it  without  depraving  or  disabling  the  better  deserver. 

Uncoil,  Essays,  49. 


DEPRAVE— DIGESTED.  53 

lam  depraved  unjustly;   who  never  deprived  the  Church  of  her 

authority. 

Fuller,  The  Appeal  of  Injured  Innocence,  part  i.  p.  45. 


DESIRE.  '  To  desire'  is  only  to  look  forward  with 
longing  now  ;  the  word  has  lost  the  sense  of  regret  or 
looking  back  upon  the  lost  but  still  loved.  This  it 
once  possessed  in  common  with  '  desiderium'  and  '  de- 
siderare,'  from  which  more  remotely,  and  '  desirer,' 
from  which  more  immediately,  we  derive  it. 

He  [Jehoram]  reigned  in  Jerusalem  eight  years,  and  departed 

without  being  desired. 

2  Chron.  xxi.  20.  Authorized  Version. 

She  that  hath  a  wise  husband  must  entice  him  to  an  eternal  dear- 
ness  by  the  veil  of  modesty  and  the  grave  robes  of  chastity,  and  she 
shall  be  pleasant  while  she  lives,  and  desired  when  she  dies. 

J.  Taylor,  The  Marriage  Ring,  Sermon  18. 

DIGESTED.  Scholars  of  the  seventeenth  century 
often  employ  a  word  of  their  own  language  in  the 
same  latitude  which  its  equivalent  possessed  in  the 
Greek  or  the  Latin ;  as  though  it  entered  into  all  the 
rights  of  its  equivalent,  and  corresponded  with  it  on 
all  points,  because  it  corresponded  in  one.  Thus, 
*  coctus'  meaning  '  digested/  why  should  not  '  digest 
ed'  mean  all  which  l  coctus'  meant  ?  But  one  of  the 
meanings  of  '  coctus'  is  '  ripened  ;'  k  digested'  there 
fore  might  be  employed  in  the  same  sense. 

Splendid  fires,  aromatic  spices,  rich  wines,  and  well-digested  fruits. 
J.  Taylor,  Discourse  on  Friendship. 


5-4  DISABLE — DISCOURSE. 

DISABLE.  Our  ancestors  felt  that  to  injure  the  char 
acter  of  another  was  the  most  effectual  way  of  '  disa 
bling'  him  ;  and  out  of  a  sense  of  this  they  often  used 
6  disable'  in  the  sense  of  to  disparage,  to  speak  slight 
ingly  of. 

Farewell,  mounsieur  traveller.  Look,  you  lisp,  and  wear  strange 
suits ;  disable  all  the  benefits  of  your  own  country. 

Shakespeare,  As  you  like  it,  Act  iv.  Sc.  1 . 

If  affection  lead  a  man  to  favour  the  less  worthy  in  desert,  let  him 
do  it  without  depraving  or  disabling  the  better  descrver. 

Bacon,  Essays,  49. 

DISCOURSE.  It  is  very  characteristic  of  the  slight 
acquaintance  with  our  elder  literature  —  the  most 
obvious  source  for  elucidating  Shakespeare's  text  — 
which  was  possessed  by  many  of  his  commentators 
down  to  a  late  day,  that  the  phrase  '  discourse  of  rea 
son,'  which  he  puts  into  Hamlet's  mouth,  should  have 
perplexed  them  so  greatly.  Gilford,  a  pitiless  ani- 
madverter  on  the  real  or  imaginary  mistakes  of  oth 
ers,  and  who  tramples  upon  Warburton  for  attempting 
to  explain  this  phrase  as  though  Shakespeare  had  ever 
written  it,  declares,  "  'discourse  «/ reason'  is  so  poor 
and  perplexed  a  phrase  that  1  should  dismiss  it  at 
once  for  what  I  believe  to  be  his  genuine  language ;" 
and  then  proceeds  to  suggest  the  obvious  but  errone 
ous  correction  "  discourse  and  reason"  (see  his  Mas- 
singef)  vol.  i.  p.  14$)  ;  while  yet,  if  there  be  a  phrase 
of  frequent  recurrence  among  the  writers  of  our  Eliz 
abethan  age  and  down  to  Milton,  it  is  this.  I  have 


DISCOURSE.  55 

very  little  doubt  that  it  occurs  fifty  times  in  Holland's 
translation  of  Plutarch's  Moralia.  What  our  fathers 
intended  by  '  discourse'  and  '  discourse  of  reason,'  the 
following  passages  will  abundantly  declare. 

There  is  not  so  great  difference  and  distance  between  beast  and 
beast,  as  there  is  odds  in  the  matter  of  wisdom,  discourse,  of  reason, 
and  use  of  memory  between  man  and  man. 

Holland,  Plutarch's  Morals,  p.  570;  of.  pp.  313,  566, 

570,  752,  955,  966,  977,  980. 
You,  being  by  nature  given  to  melancholic  discoursing,  do  easilier 

yield  to  such  imaginations. 

North,  Plutarch's  Lives,  p.  830. 

The  other  gods,  and  knights-at-arms,  all  slept,  but  only  Jove 
Sweet  slumber  seized  not ;  he  discoursed  how  best  he  might  approve 

His  vow  made  for  Achilles'  grace. 

Chapman,  Homer's  Iliad,  b.  ii. 

As  the  intuitive  knowledge  is  more  perfect  than  that  which  insin 
uates  itself  into  the  soul  gradually  by  discourse,  so  more  beautiful  the 
prospect  of  that  building  which  is  all  visible  at  one  view  than  what 
discovers  itself  to  the  sight  by  parcels  and  degrees. 

Fuller,  The  Worthies  of  England,  Canterbury. 

Whence  the  soul 

Reason  receives,  and  reason  is  her  being, 
Discursive  or  intuitive  ;  discourse 
Is  oftest  yours,  the  latter  most  is  ours. 

Milton,  Paradise  Lost,  b.  v. 

If  you  mean,  by  discourse,  right  reason,  grounded  on  Divine  Reve 
lation  and  common  notions,  written  by  God  in  the  hearts  of  all  men, 
and  deducing,  according  to  the  never-failing  rules  of  logic,  consequent 
deductions  from  them  ;  if  this  be  it  which  you  mean  by  discourse,  it  is 
very  meet  and  reasonable  and  necessary  that  men,  as  in  all  their  ac 
tions,  so  especially  in  that  of  greatest  importance,  the  choice  of  their 
way  to  happiness,  should  be  left  unto  it. 

Chillingworth,  The  Religion  of  Protestants  a  Safe  Way 
to  Salvation,  Preface. 


56  DISEASE — DISMAL. 

DISEASE.  Our  present  limitation  of  ;  disease'  is  a 
very  natural  one,  seeing  that  nothing  so  effectually 
wars  against  ease  as  a  sick  and  suffering  condition  of 
body.  Still  the  limitation  is  modern,  and  by  *  dis 
ease'  was  once  meant  any  malease,  distress,  or  dis 
comfort  whatever. 

Wo  to  hem  that  ben  with  child,  and  nurishen  in  tho  daies,  for  a 
greet  disese  [pressura  magna,  Vulg.]  schal  be  on  the  erthe,  and  wrathe 

to  tliis  peple. 

Luke  xxi.  23.  Wiclif. 

Thy  daughter  is  dead;  why  diseasest  thou  the  master  any  further? 

Mark  v.  35.  Tyndale. 

This  is  now  the  fourteenth  day  they  [the  Cardinals]  have  been  in 
the  Conclave,  with  such  pain  and  disease  that  your  grace  would  mar 
vel  that  such  men  as  they  would  suffer  it. 

State  Papers  (Letter  to  Wolsey  from  his  Agent  at  Rome),  vol.  vi.  p.  182. 

DISMAL.  Minshew's  derivation  of  '  dismal,'  that  it 
is  '  dies  malus,'  the  unlucky,  ill-omened  day,  is  exactly 
one  of  those  plausible  etymologies  to  which  one  learns 
after  a  while  to  give  no  credit.  Yet  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  our  fathers  so  understood  the  word,  and 
that  this  assumed  etymology  often  overrules  their 
usage  of  it. 

A  buiterar  or  a  maker  of  dismal  days. 

Dent,  xviii.  10.  Tyndale. 

Then  began  they  to  reason  and  debate  about  the  dismal  days  [turn 
dc  dicbus  religiosis  agitari  coeptum].  And  the  fifteenth  day  before 
the  Kalends  of  August,  so  notorious  for  a  twofold  loss  and  overthrow 
they  set  this  unlucky  mark  upon  it,  that  it  should  be  reputed  unmeet 
and  unconvcnient  for  any  business,  as  well  public  as  private. 

Holland,  Livy,  p.  217 


DISMAL — DIFFIDENCE.  57 

The  particular  calendars,  wherein  their  [the  Jews]  good  or  dismal 
days  are  distinguished,  according  to  the  diversity  of  their  ways,  we 
find,  Leviticus  26. 

Jackson,  The  Eternal  Truth  of  Scriptures,  b.  i.  c.  22. 

DIFFIDENCE,  I  c  Diffidence'  expresses  now  a  not  un- 
DIFFIDKNTLY.  j  becoming  distrust  of  one's  own  self, 
with  only  a  slight  intimation,  such  as  '  vcrecundia' 
obtained  in  the  silver  age  of  Latin  literature,  that 
perhaps  this  distrust  is  carried  too  far ;  but  it  was 
once  used  for  distrust  of  others,  and  sometimes  for 
distrust  pushed  so  far  as  to  amount  to  an  entire  with 
holding  of  all  faith  from  them,  being  nearly  allied  to 
despair  ;  as,  indeed,  in  The  Pilgrim' 's  Progress,  Mis 
tress  '  Diffidence'  is  Giant  Despair's  wife. 

Of  the  impediments  which  have  been  in  the  affections,  the  principle 
whereof  hath  been  despair  or  diffidence,  and  the  strong  apprehension 
of  the  difficulty,  obscurity,  and  infiniteness,  which  belongeth  to  the 
invention  of  knowledge. 

Bacon,  Of  the  Interpretation  of  Nature,  c.  19. 

Needless  diffidences,  banishment  of  friends. 

Shakespeare,  King  Lear,  Act  i.  Sc.  2. 

Every  sin  smiles  in  the  first  address,  and  carries  light  in  the  face, 
and  honey  in  the  lip ;  but  when  we  have  well  drunk,  then  comes  that 
which  is  worse,  a  whip  with  ten  strings,  fears  and  terrors  of  conscience, 
and  shame  and  displeasure,  and  a  caitiff  disposition,  and  diffidence  in 

the  day  of  death. 

J.  Taylor,  The  Life  of  Christ. 

Mediators  were  not  wanting  that  endeavoured  a  renewing  of  friend 
ship  between  these  two  prelates,  which  the  haughtiness,  or  perhaps 
the  diffidence  of  Bishop  Laud  would  not  accept ;  a  symptom  of  policy 
more  than  of  grace,  not  to  trust  a  reconciled  enemy. 

Hacket,  The  Life  of  Archbishop  Williams,  part  ii.  p.  86 

3* 


58  DIFFIDKNT — DOLK. 

It  was  by  far  the  host  course  to  stand  diffidently  against  each  other, 
with  their  thoughts  in  buttle  array. 

Hobbes,  Thucydidc.s,  b.  iii.  c.  83. 

DISOBLIGE.  Release  from  obligation  lies  at  the  root 
of  all  uses,  present  and  past,  of  this  word  ;  but  it  was 
formerly  more  the  release  from  an  oath  or  a  duty, 
and  now  rather  from  the  slighter  debts  of  social  life, 
to  which  kindness  and  courtesy  on  the  part  of  another 
would  have  held  us  bound  or  obliged ;  while  the  con 
traries  to  these  are  '  disobliging.' 

He  did  not  think  that  Act  of  Uniformity  could  disoblige  them  [the 
Non-Conformists]  from  the  exercise  of  their  office. 

Bates,  Mr.  Richard  Baxter's  Funeral  Sermon. 

He  hath  a  very  great  obligation  to  do  that  and  more ;  and  he  can 
noways  be  disobliged,  but  by  the  care  of  his  natural  relations. 

J.  Taylor,  Measures  and  Offices  of  Friendship. 

DOCUMENT.  Now  used  only  of  the  material,  and 
not,  as  once,  of  the  moral  proof,  evidence,  or  means 
of  instruction. 

They  were  forthwith  stoned  to  death,  as  a  document  unto  others. 

Sir  W.  Raleigh,  The  History  of  the  World,  b.  v.  c.  2.  §  3. 

Utterly  to  extirpate  all  trust  in  riches,  where  they  abound,  is  only- 
possible  to  the  Omnipotent  Power,  and  a  rare  document  of  divine 
mercy. 

Jackson,  Justifying  Faith,  b.  iv.  c.  6. 


DOLE.    This  and  '  deal'  are  of  course  one  and  the 
same  word,  and  answer  to  the  German  '  Theil,'  a  part 


DOLE — DllENCII.  59 

or  portion.  It  has  now  always  the  subaudition  of  a 
scanty  portion,  as  '  to  dole'  is  to  deal  scantily  and 
reluctantly  forth  ('  pittance'  has  acquired  the  same)  ; 
but  Sanderson's  use  of  '  dole'  is  instructive,  as  show 
ing  that  '  distribution  or  division'  is  all  which  once 
lay  in  the  word. 

There  are  certain  common  graces  of  illumination,  and  those  indeed 
are  given  by  dole,  knowledge  to  one,  to  another  tongues,  to  another 
healings  ;  but  it  is  nothing  so  with  the  special  graces  of  sanctih'cation. 
There  is  no  distribution  or  division  here ;  either  all  or  none. 

Sanderson,  Sermons,  1671,  vol.  ii.  p.  247. 

DREADFUL.  Now  that  which  causes  dread,  but  once 
that  which  felt  it. 

Forsothe  the  Lord  shall  gyve  to  thee  there  a  dreedful  herte  and 

faylinge  eyen. 

Deut.  xxviii.  65.  Wiclif. 

And  to  a  grove  faste  ther  beside 

With  dredful  foot  than  stalketh  Palamon. 

Chaucer,  The  Knightes  Tale. 

DRENCH.  As  '  to  felV  is  '  to  make  to  /a//,'  and  '  to 
lay*  '  to  make  to  lie]  so  '  to  drench'  is  '  to  make  to 
drink  J  though  with  a  sense  now  very  short  of  '  to 
drown  ;'  but  '  drench'  and  '  drown,'  though  desynony- 
mized  in  our  later  English,  were  once  perfectly  ade 
quate  to  one  another. 

They  that  wolen  be  maad  riche,  fallen  in  to  temptacioun,  and  in 
to  snare  of  the  devil,  and  in  to  many  unprofitable  desiris  and  noyous, 

which  drenchen  men  in  to  deth  and  perdicioun. 

1  Tim.  vi.  9.  Wiclif. 


60  DRENCH — DUNCE. 

Well  may  men  know  it  was  no  wi<Jit  hut  he 
That  kept  the  peple  Ebraikc  fro  drenching, 
With  dryc  feet  throughout  the  see  passing. 

Chaucer,  The  Man  of  Lawes  Tale. 


DUKE.  One  of  Shakespeare's  commentators  charges 
him  with  an  anachronism,  the  incongruous  transfer  of 
a  modern  title  to  an  ancient  condition  of  society,  when 
he  gives  to  Theseus  the  style  of  'Duke  of  Athens.' 
It  would  be  of  very  little  consequence  if  the  charge 
were  a  true  one  ;  but  it  is  not.  '  Duke'  has  indeed 
since  Shakespeare's  time  become  that  which  this  ob 
jector  supposed  it  to  have  been  always ;  but  all  were 
4  dukes'  once  who  were  4  duces,'  captains  and  leaders 
of  their  people. 

He  [St.  Peter]  techith  christen  men  to  be  suget  to  kyngis  and 
dukis,  and  to  ech  man  for  God. 

Prologe  on  the  first  Pistel  of  Peter.  Wiclif. 

Hannibal,  duke  of  Carthage. 

Sir  T.  Elyot,  The  Governor,  b.  i.  c.  10. 

These  were  the  dukes  and  princes  of  avail, 
That  came  from  Greece. 

Chapman,  Homer's  Iliad,  b.  ii. 

DUNCE.  I  have  sought  elsewhere  (Study  of  Words, 
p.  90)  to  trace  somewhat  at  large  the  very  curious 
history  of  this  word.  Sufficient  here  to  say  that  Duns 
Scotus,  whom  Hooker  styles  "  the  wittiest  of  the 
school  divines,"  has  given  us  this  name,  which  now 
ascribes  hopeless  ignorance,  invincible  stupidity,  to 


DUNCE — DUTCH.  fil 

him  on  whom  it  is  affixed.  The  course  by  which  this 
came  to  pass  was  as  follows.  When  at  the  Reforma 
tion  and  Revival  of  Learning  the  works  of  the  School 
men  fell  into  extreme  disfavor,  at  once  with  all  the 
Reformers  and  with  all  votaries  of  the  new  learning, 
Duns,  a  standard-bearer  among  those,  was  so  often 
referred  to  with  scorn  and  contempt  by  these,  that  his 
name  gradually  became  that  byeword  which  now  it  is. 

Remember  ye  not  how  whhin  this  thirty  years,  and  far  less,  and 
yet  dureth  unto  this  day,  the  old  barking  curs,  Dunce's  disciples,  and 
like  draff  called  Scotists,  the  children  of  darkness,  raged  in  every  pul 
pit  against  Greek,  Latin,  and  Hebrew  ? 

Tyndale,  Works,  1575,  p.  278. 

What  Dunce  or  Sorbonist  cannot  maintain  a  parodox  ? 

G.  Harvey,  Pierce 's  Supererogation,  p.  159. 

As  for  terms  of  honesty  or  civility,  they  are  gibberish  unto  him, 
and  he  a  Jewish  Rabbin  or  a  Latin  dunce  with  him  that  useth  any 

such  form  of  monstrous  terms. 

Id.,  Ib.,  p.  175. 
Maud.  Is  this  your  tutor? 

Tutor.  Yes  surely,  lady; 

I  am  the  man  that  brought  him  in  league  with  logic, 
And  read  the  Dunces  to  him. 

Middleton,  A  Chaste  Maid  in  Cheapside,  Act  iii.  Sc.  1. 


DUTCH,  )  Till  late  in  the  seventeenth  century 
DUTCHMAN,  j  '  Dutch'  ('  deutsch'  or  '  teutsch,'  '  theo- 
tiscus')  meant  generally  '  German,'  and  a  i  Dutchman' 
a  native  of  Germany,  while  what  we  should  now  term 
a  Dutchman  would  have  been  named  then  a  Hollander. 
I  observe  it  stated  in  a  recent  volume  of  travels  in 
America,  that  in  many  parts  there,  Germans  are  now 


62  DUTCH EAGER. 

called  <  Dutchmen,'   the   retention  of  an    old   usage, 
even  as  we  find  so  many  examples  of  this  in  America. 

Though  the  root  of  the  English  language  be  Dutch,  yet  she  may  he 
said  to  have  been  inoculated  afterwards  upon  a  French  stock. 

Howell,  Lexicon  Tetraglotton,  Preface. 

Germany  is  slandered  to  have  sent  none  to  this  war  [the  Crusades] 
at  this  first  voyage  ;  and  that  other  pilgrims,  passing  through  that 
country,  were  mocked  by  the  Dutch,  and  called  fools  for  their  pains. 

Fuller,  The  Holy  War,  b.  i.  c.  13. 

At  the  same  time  began  the  Teutonic  Order,  consisting  only  of 
Dutchmen,  well  descended. 

Id.,  Ib.  b.  ii.  c.  10. 


E. 

EAGER,  )  The  physical  and  literal  sense  of 
EAGERNESS,  j  '  eager,'  that  is,  sharp  or  acrid  (aigre, 
acris),  has  quite  departed  from  the  word  ;  which,  how 
ever,  occasionally  retained  this,  long  after  it  was  em 
ployed  in  the  secondary  meaning  which  is  its  only  one 
at  present. 

She  was  like  thing  for  hunger  dead, 
That  lad  her  life  only  by  bread 
Kneden  with  eisell*  strong  and  eyre, 

Chaucer,  The  Romaunt  of  the  Rose,  145-147. 

Bees  have  this  property  by  nature  to  find  and  suck  the  mildest  and 
best  honey  out  of  the  sharpest  and  most  eager  flowers. 

Holland,  Plutarch's  Morak,  p.  43. 
Now  on  the  eager  razor's  edge  for  life  or  death  we  stand. 

Chapman,  Homer's  Iliad,  6-10- 
*  Vinegar. 


EAGER — EGREGIOUS.  63 

Asproso,  full  of  sourness  or  eagerness. 

Florio,  New  World  of  Words. 


EBB.  Nothing  *  ebbs,'  unless  it  be  figuratively,  ex 
cept  water  now.  But  '  ebb,'  oftener  an  adjective  than 
any  thing  else,  was  continually  used  in  our  earlier 
English  with  a  general  meaning  of  shallow.  There 
is  still  a  Lancashire  proverb,  Cross  the  stream,  where 
it  is  ebbfst. 

Orpiment,  a  mineral  digged  out  of  the  ground  in  Syria,  where  it 

lieth  very  ebb. 

Holland,  Pliny,  vol  ii.  p.  469. 

This  you  may  observe  ordinarily  in  stones,  that  those  parts  and 
sides  which  lie  covered  deeper  within  the  ground,  be  more  frim  and 
tender,  as  being  preserved  by  heat,  than  those  outward  faces  which 

lie  ebb,  or  above  the  earth. 

Id.,  Plutarch's  Morals,  p.  747. 

It  is  all  one  whether  I  be  drowned  in  the  ebber  shore,  or  in  the 

midst  of  the  deep  sea. 

Bishop  Hall,  Meditations  and  Vows,  cent.  ii. 


ECSTASY.  We  still  say  of  madmen  that  they  are 
beside  themselves;  but  'ecstasy,'  or  a  standing  out 
of  oneself,  is  no  longer  used  as  an  equivalent  to  mad 
ness. 

This  is  the  very  coinage  of  your  brain, 
This  bodiless  creation  ecstasy 
Is  very  cunning  in. 

Shakespeare,  Hamlet,  Act  iii.  Sc.  4. 

EGREGIOUS.  This  has  always  now  an  ironical  sub 
audition,  which  it  was  very  far  from  having  of  old. 


64  EGREGIOUS — EMBEZZLE. 

It  may  be  denied  that  bishops  were  our  first  reformers,  for  "VVick- 
liffe  was  before  them,  and  his  fgnr/ions  labours  are  not  to  be  neglected. 
Milton,  Animadversions  upon  the  Remonstrants'  Defence. 
Egregious  viceroys  of  these  eastern  parts  ! 

Marlowe,  Tamlurlaine  the  Great,  Part  ii.  Act  i.  Sc.  1. 

ELEVATE.  There  are  two  intentions  with  which 
any  thing  may  be  lifted  from  the  place  which  now  it 
occupies  ;  either  with  the  intention  of  setting  it  in  a 
more  conspicuous  position ;  or  else  of  removing  it  out 
of  the  way,  or,  figuratively,  of  withdrawing  all  im 
portance  and  significance  from  it.  We  employ  '  to 
elevate'  now  in  the  former  intention ;  our  ancestors 
for  the  most  part,  especially  those  whose  style  was 
influenced  by  their  Latin  studies,  in  the  latter. 

Withal,  he  forgat  not  to  elevate  as  much  as  he  could  the  fame  of 
the  foresaid  unhappy  field  fought,  saying,  That  if  all  had  been  true, 
there  would  have  been  messengers  coming  thick  one  after  another 
upon  their  flight,  to  bring  fresh  tidings  still  thereof. 

Holland,  Livy,  p.  1199. 

Audience  he  had  with  great  assent  and  applause ;  not  more  for 
elevating  the  fault  and  trespass  of  the  common  people,  than  for  laying 
the  weight  upon  those  that  were  the  authors  culpable. 

Id.,  76.  p.  1207. 

Tully  in  his  oration  Pro  Flacco,  to  elevate  or  lessen  that  conceit 
which  many  Romans  had  of  the  nation  of  the  Jews,  objects  little  less 
unto  them  than  our  Saviour  in  this  place  doth,  to  wit  that  they  were 
in  bondage  t<>  the  Romans. 

Jackson,  Of  the  Primeval  Estate  of  the  First  Man,  b.  x.  c.  14. 

EMBEZZLE.  We  should  say  now  that  the  Unjust 
Steward  '  embezzled'  his  lord's  goods  (  Luke  xvi.  1) ; 


EMBEZZLE — ENORMOUS.  65 

but  not  that  the  Prodigal  Son  '  embezzled'  the  sub 
stance  which  he  had  received  from  his  father  (Luke 
xv.  13)  :  yet  the  one  would  have  been  as  free  to  our 
early  writers  as  the  other. 

Go  over  towns  and  countries,  tell  the  choice  buildings,  lands,  and 
inheritances  of  them,  and  ask  whose  these  were ;  all  will  tell  you  such 
a  name,  such  a  house  enjoyed  them,  but  now  all  is  gone  and  embezzled 
away,  not  one  acre  remaining  of  four  or  five  thousand  pound  lands 
by  the  year. 

Rogers,  Matrimonial  Honour,  p.  343. 

Mr.  Hackluit  died,  leaving  a  fair  estate  to  an  un thrift  son,  who 
embezzled  it. 

Fuller,  The  Worthies  of  England,  Herefordshire. 

The  collection  of  these  various  readings  [is]  a  testimony  even  of 
the  faithfulness  of  these  later  ages  of  the  Church,  and  of  the  high  rev 
erence  they  had  to  these  records,  in  that  they  would  not  so  much  as 
embesell  the  various  readings  of  them,  but  keep  them  still  on  foot  for 

the  prudent  to  judge  of. 

H.  More,  On  Godliness,  b.  vii.  c.  11. 


ENORMOUS,  )  Now  only  applied  to  that  which  is  ir- 
ENORMITY.     J  regular  in  excess,  in  this  way  trans 
cending  the  established  morm  or  rule.    But  departure 
from  rule  or  regularities  in  any  direction  might  be 
characterized  as  '  enormous'  once. 

Oh  great  corrector  of  enormous  times, 
Shaker  of  o'er-rank  states,  thou  grand  decider 
Of  dusty  and  old  titles,  that  healst  with  blood 
The  earth  when  it  is  sick. 
Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  The  Two  Noble  Kinsmen,  Actv.  Sc.  1. 

Wild,  without  rule  or  art,  enormous  bliss. 

Milton,  Paradise  Lost. 


G6  ENORMOUS — EPICURE. 

Pyramids,  arches,  obelisks,  were  but  the  irregularities  of  vain-glory, 
and  wild  enormities  of  ancient  magnanimity. 

Sir  T.  Browne,  Ilydriotaphia. 


ENSURE.  None  of  our  Dictionaries,  as  far  as  I  can 
observe,  have  taken  notice  of  an  old  use  of  this  word, 
namely,  to  betroth,  and  thus  to  make  sure  the  future 
husband  and  wife  to  each  other. 

After  his  mother  Mary  was  ensured  to  Joseph,  before  they  were 
coupled  together,  it  was  perceived  she  was  with  child. 

Matt.  i.  18.  Sir  John  Cheke. 

Albeit  that  she  was  by  the  king's  mother  and  many  other  put  in 
good  comfort  to  affirm  that  she  was  ensured  unto  the  king;  yet  when 
she  was  solemnly  sworn  to  say  the  truth,  she  confessed  that  they  were 

never  ensured. 

Sir  T.  More,  The  History  of  King  Richard  III. 


EPICURE.  Now  applied  only  to  those  who  devote 
themselves,  yet  with  a  certain  elegance  and  refinement, 
to  the  pleasures  of  the  table.  We  may  trace  two 
earlier  stages  in  its  meaning.  By  Lord  Bacon  and 
others,  the  followers  of  Epicurus,  whom  we  should 
call  Epicureans,  are  often  called  '  Epicures,'  after  the 
name  of  the  founder  of  their  sect.  From  them  it  was 
transferred  to  all  who  were,  like  them,  dcniers  of  a 
divine  providence  ;  and  this  is  the  common  use  of  it 
by  our  elder  divines.  But  inasmuch  as  those  who 
have  persuaded  themselves  that  there  is  nothing  above 
them,  will  seek  their  good,  since  men  must  seek  it 
somewhere,  in  the  things  beneath  them,  in  sensual 


EPICURE — EQUIVOCAL.  67 

delights,  tlie  name  has  been  transferred,  by  that  true 
moral  instinct  which  is  continually  at  work  in  speech, 
from  the  philosophical  speculative  atheist  to  the  human 
swine,  for  whom  the  world  is  but  a  feeding-trough. 

So  the  Epicures  say  of  the  Stoics'  felicity  placed  in  virtue,  that  it 
is  like  the  felicity  of  a  player,  who  if  he  were  left  of  his  auditors  and 
their  applause,  he  would  straight  be  out  of  heart  and  countenance. 

Bacon,  Colours  of  Good  and  Evil,  3. 

Aristotle  is  altogether  an  Epicure;  he  holdeth  that  God  careth 
nothing  for  human  creatures ;  he  allegeth  God  ruleth  the  world  like 

as  a  sleepy  maid  rocketh  a  child. 

Luther,  Table-Talk,  c.  73. 

The  Epicure  grants  there  is  a  God,  but  denies  his  providence. 

Sydenham,  The  Athenian  Babbler,  1627,  p.  7. 

EQUAL.  The  ethical  sense  of  '  equal,'  as  fair,  can 
did,  just,  has  almost,  if  not  altogether,  departed  from 
it. 

0  my  most  equal  hearers,  if  these  deeds 
May  pass  with  sufferance,  what  one  citizen 
But  owes  the  forfeit  of  his  life,  yea,  fame, 
To  him  that  dares  traduce  him. 

Ben  Jonson,  The  Fox,  Act  iv.  Sc.  2. 

Hear  now,  0  house  of  Israel ;  is  not  my  way  equal  ?  are  not  your 

ways  unequal 7 

Ezek.  xviii.  25.  Authorized  Version. 


EQUIVOCAL,    "^  The  calling  two  or  more  different 
EQUIVOCALLY.    V  thing's  by  one  and  the  same  name 
EQUIVOCATION.  )  (aeque  vocare)  is  the  source  of  al 
most  all  error  in  human  discourse.     He  who  wishes 
to  throw  dust  in  the  eyes  of  an  opponent,  to  hinder 


68  EQUIVOCAL ESSAY. 

his  arriving  at  the  real  facts  of  a  case,  will  often  have 
recourse  to  this  artifice,  and  thus  '  to  equivocate'  and 
'  equivocation'  have  attained  their  present  secondary 
meaning,  very  different  from  their  original,  which  was 
simply  the  naming  of  two  or  more  different  things  by 
one  and  the  same  word. 

This  visible  world  is  but  a  picture  of  the  invisible,  wherein,  as  in  a 
portrait,  things  are  not  truly,  but  in  equivocal  shapes,  and  as  they 
counterfeit  some  real  substance  in  that  invisible  fabric. 

Sir  T.  Browne,  Religio  Medici. 

Which  [courage  and  constancy]  he  that  wanteth  is  no  other  than 
equivocally  a  gentleman,  as  an  image  or  a  can-ass  is  a  man. 

Barrow,  Sermon  on  Industry  in  our  several  Callings. 
He  [the  good  herald]  knows  when  indeed  the  names  are  the  same, 
though  altered  through  variety  of  writing  in  various  ages,  and  where 
the  equivocation  is  untruly  affected. 

Fuller,  The  Holy  State,  b.  ii.  c.  22. 

All  words,  being  arbitrary  signs,  are  ambiguous ;  and  few  dispu- 
ters  have  the  jealousy  and  skill  which  is  necessary  to  discuss  equivoca 
tions;  and  so  take  verbal  differences  for  material. 

Baxter,  Catholic  Theology,  Preface. 

ESSAY.  There  is  no  particular  modesty  now  in  cal 
ling  a  treatise  or  dissertation  an  '  essay ;'  but  from 
many  passages  it  is  plain  that  there  was  so  once ; 
which  indeed  is  only  agreeable  to  the  proper  meaning 
of  the  word,  an  '  essay'  being  a  trial,  proof,  specimen, 
taste  of  a  thing,  rather  than  the  very  and  completed 
tiling  itself. 

To  write  just  treatises  requireth  leisure  in  the  writer,  and  leisure 
in  the  reader;  and  therefore  are  not  so  fit  neither  in  regard  of  your 


ESSAY — EXEMPLIFY.  69 

highness'  princely  affairs,  nor  in  regard  of  my  continual  service; 
which  is  the  cause  which  hath  made  me  choose  to  write  certain  brief 
notes,  set  down  rather  significantly  than  curiously,  which  I  have  called 
JSssays.  The  word  is  late,  hut  the  thing  is  ancient. 

Bacon,  Intended  Dedication  of  his  Essays  to  Prince  Henry. 

Yet  modestly  he  does  his  work  survey, 
And  calls  a  finished  poem  an  essay. 

Dryden,  Epistle  5,  To  the  Earl  of  Roscommon. 


EXEMPLARY.  A  certain  vagueness  in  our  use  of 
<  exemplary'  makes  it  for  us  little  more  than  a  loose 
synonym  for  excellent.  We  plainly  often  forget  that 
'  exemplary'  is  strictly  that  which  serves,  or  might 
serve,  for  an  exemplar  to  others,  while  only  through 
keeping  this  distinctly  before  us  will  passages  like  the 
following  yield  their  exact  meaning  to  us. 

We  are  not  of  opinon  therefore,  as  some  are,  that  nature  in  work 
ing  hath  before  her  certain  exemplary  draughts  or  patterns. 

Hooker,  Ecclesiastical  Polity,  b.  i.  c.  3. 

When  the  English,  at  the  Spanish  fleet's  approach  in  eighty-eight 
[1588]  drew  their  ships  out  of  Plymo.uth  haven,  the  Lord  Admiral 
Howard  himself  towed  a  cable,  the  least  joint  of  whose  exemplary 
hand  drew  more  than  twenty  men  besides. 

Fuller,  The  Holy  State,  b.  iv.  c.  17. 

EXEMPLIFY.  The  use  of  '  exemplify'  in  the  sense 
of  the  Greek  irapafcr/^ari^v  (Matt.  i.  19)  has  now 
passed  away.  Observe  also  in  the  passage  quoted  the 
curious  use  of  '  traduce.' 

He  is  a  just  and  jealous  God,  not  sparing  to  exemplify  and  traduce 


TO  EXEMPLIFY — EXTERMINATE. 

his  best  servants    [i.  e.  when  they  sinj,  that  their  blur  and  penalty 
might  scare  all  from  venturing. 

Kogers,  Matrimonial  Honour,  p.  337. 

EXPLODE.  All  our  present  uses  of  '  explode,' 
whether  literal  or  figurative,  have  reference  to  burst 
ing,  and  to  bursting  with  noise  ;  and  it  is  for  the  most 
part  forgotten,  I  should  imagine,  that  these  are  all 
secondary  and  derived  ;  that  '  to  explode,'  originally 
an  active  verb,  means  to  drive  off  the  stage  with  loud 
clappings  of  the  hands :  and  that  when  one  of  our 
early  writers  speaks  of  an  '  exploded'  heresy  or  an 
1  exploded  opinion,'  his  image  is  not  drawn  from  some 
thing  which,  having  burst,  has  perished  so  ;  but  he 
would  imply  that  it  has  been  contemptuously  driven 
off  from  the  world's  stage  —  the  fact  that  '  explosion' 
in  this  earlier  sense  was  with  a  great  noise  being  the 
connecting  link  between  that  sense  and  our  present. 

A  third  sort  explode  this  opinion  as  trespassing  on  Divine  Provi 
dence. 

Fuller,  The  Ilohj  War,  b.  iii.  c.  18. 

A  man  may  with  more  facility  avoid  him  that  circumvents  by 
money  than  him  that  deceives  with  glosing  terms,  which  made  Soc 
rates  so  much  abhor  and  explode  them. 

Burton,  The  Anatomy  of  Melancholy ;  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

Shall  that  man  pass  for  a  proficient  in  Christ's  school,  who  would 
have  been  exploded  in  the  school  of  Zeno  or  Epictctus  ? 

South,  Sermons,  vol.  i.  p.  431. 

EXTERMINATE,  J^  It    now    signifies    to    destroy,    to 
EXTERMINATION,  j  abolish  ;  but  our  fathers,  more  true 


EXTERMINATE — FACETIOUS.  71 

to  the  etymology,  understood  by  it  to  drive  men  out 
of  and  beyond  their  own  borders. 

Most  things  do  either  associate  and  draw  near  to  themselves  the 
like,  and  do  also  drive  away,  chase,  and  exterminate  their  contraries. 

Bacon,  Colors  of  Good  and  Evil,  7. 

We  believe  it  to  be  the  general  interest  of  us  all,  as  much  as  in  us 
lies,  with  our  common  aid  and  succour  to  relieve  our  exterminated  and 
indigent  brethren. 

Milton,  Letters  written  in  Cromwell's  name  to  the  Evangelic  cities 
of  Switzerland,  on  occasion  of  the  persecutions  of  the  Vaudois. 

The  state  of  the  Jews  was  in  that  depression,  in  that  conculcation, 
in  that  consternation,  in  that  extermination  in  the  captivity  of  Babylon. 

Donne,  Sermons,  19. 


FACETIOUS,      )  It  is  certainly  not  a 

FACETIOUSNESS.  j  able  that  alike  in 
and  English,  words  expressive  of  witty  festive  conver 
sation  should  have  degenerated,  though  not  all  ex 
actly  in  the  same  direction,  and  gradually  acquired  a 
worse  signification  than  that  with  which  they  began  ; 
I  mean  surpcwrjXi'a,  ;  urbanitas,'  and  our  own  '  facetious- 
ness  ;'  this  degeneracy  of  the  words  warning  us  how 
easily  the  thing  itself  degenerates ;  how  sure  it  is  to 
do  so,  to  corrupt  and  spoil,  if  it  be  not  seasoned  with 
the  only  salt  which  will  hinder  this.  '  Facetiousness7 
has  already  acquired  the  sense  of  buffoonery,  of  the 
making  of  ignoble  mirth  for  others ;  there  are  plain 


72  FACETIOUS — FASTIDIOUS. 

indications  that  it  will  ere  long  acquire  the  sense  of 
indecent  buffoonery  ;  while  there  was  a  time,  as  the 
examples  given  below  will  prove,  when  it  could  be 
ascribed  in  praise  to  high-bred  ladies  of  the  court  and 
to  grave  prelates  and  divines. 

He  [Archbighop  Williams]  demonstrated  that  his  mind  was  the 
lighter,  because  his  friends  were  about  him,  and  his  facetious  wit  was 
true  to  him  at  those  seasons,  because  his  heart  was  true  to  his  com 
pany. 

Hacket,  The  Life  of  Archbishop  Williams,  part  ii.  p.  32. 

A  grave  man,  yet  without  moroseness,  as  who  would  willingly 
contribute  his  shot  of  facetiousne ss  on  any  just  occasion. 

Fuller,  The  Worthies  of  England,  Oxfordshire. 

The  king  easily  took  notice  of  her  [Anne  Boleyn]  ;  whether  more 
captivated  by  the  allurements  of  her  beauty,  or  the  facetiousmss  of  her 
behaviour,  it  is  hard  to  say. 

Heylin,  The  History  of  Queen  Mary,  Introduction. 

FAIRY.  In  whatever  latitude  we  may  employ  '  fairy' 
now,  it  is  always  restricted  to  the  middle  beings  of 
the  Gothic  mythology ;  being  in  no  case  applied,  as 
it  used  to  be,  to  the  <5ai'|xove£  of  classical  antiquity. 

Of  the  Jhiry  Manto  [daughter  of  Tiresias]  I  cannot  affirm  any 
thing  of  truth,  whether  she  were  a  fairy  or  a  prophetess. 

Sir  J.  Harrington,  Orlando  Furioso,  b.  Ixiii. 

So  long  as  these  wise  fairies  Moron  and  A<ry«TK,  that  is  to  say 
Portion  and  Partition,  had  the  ordering  of  suppers,  dinners,  and  great 
feasts,  a  man  should  never  see  any  illiberal  or  mechanical  disorder. 

Holland,  Plutarch's  Morals,  p.  679. 

FASTIDIOUS.  Persons  are  '  fastidious'  now,  as  feel 
ing  disgust ;  things,  and  indeed  persons  too,  were 


FASTIDIOUS — FEMININE.  73 

4  fastidious'  once,  as  occasioning  disgust.  The  word 
has  shifted  from  an  objective  to  a  subjective  use. 
i  Fastidiosus'  had  both  uses,  but  our  modern  quite  pre 
dominated  ;  indeed  the  other  is  very  rare. 

That  thing  for  the  which  children  be  oftentimes  beaten,  is  to  them 

ever  after  fastidious. 

Sir  T.  Elyot,  The  Governor,  b.  i.  c.  9. 

FEATURE.  This,  the  Italian  <  fattura,'  is  always  the 
part  now  of  a  larger  whole,  a  '  feature'  of  the  land 
scape,  the  6  features'  of  the  face ;  but  there  was  no 
such  limitation  once ;  any  thing  made,  any  '  fattura/ 
was  a  i  feature'  once. 

We  have  not  yet  found  them  all  [the  scattered  limbs  of  Truth], 
nor  ever  shall  do,  till  her  Master's  second  coming ;  He  shall  bring  to 
gether  every  joint  and  member,  and  shall  mould  them  into  an  immor 
tal  feature  of  loveliness  and  perfection. 

Milton,  Areopagitica. 

So  scented  the  grim  feature,  and  upturned 
His  nostril  wide  into  the  murky  air. 

Id.,  Paradise  Lost,  x.  278. 

But  this  young  feature  [a  commentary  on  Scripture  which  Arch 
bishop  Williams  had  planned],  like  an  imperfect  embryo,  was  morti 
fied  in  the  womb  by  Star-chamber  vexations. 

Racket,  The  Life  of  Archbishop  Williams,  part  ii.  p.  40. 

FEMININE.  The  distinction  between  '  feminine'  and 
<  effeminate,'  that  the  first  is  '  womanly,'  the  second 
*  womanish,'  the  first  what  becomes  a  woman,  and  may 
under  certain  limitations  without  reproach  be  affirmed 
of  a  man,  while  the  second  is  that  which  under  all 

4 


74  FEMININE — FIRMAMENT. 

circumstances  dishonors  a  man,  as  '  mannish'  would 
dishonor  a  woman,  is  of  comparatively  modern  growth. 

Till  at  the  last  God  of  veray  right 

Displesed  was  with  his  condiciouns, 

By  cause  he  [Sardanapalus]  was  in  every  manncs  sight 

So  femyiiyne  in  his  afFcctiouns. 

Lydgate,  Poem  against  Idleness. 

But  Ninias  being  esteemed  no  man  of  Avar  at  all,  but  altogether 
feminine,  and  subjected  to  ease  and  delicacy,  there  is  no  probability 
in  that  opinion. 

Sir  W.  Haluigh,  The  History  of  the  World,  b.  ii.  c.  1.  §  1. 

Commodus,  the  wanton  and  feminine  son  of  wise  Antoninus,  gave 
a  check  to  the  great  name  of  his  father. 

J.  Taylor,  Apples  of  Sodom. 


FIRMAMENT.  We  now  use  '  firmament'  only  for  that 
portion  of  the  sky  on  all  sides  visible  above  the  hori 
zon,  having  gotten  this  application  of  the  word  from 
the  Vulgate  (  Gen  i.  6),  or  at  any  rate  from  the  Church 
Latin  (''firm amentum  celeste,'  Tertullian,  De  Bapt. 
iii.),  as  that  had  derived  it  from  the  Septuagint. 
This  by  rr-spfw^a  had  sought  to  express  the  firmness 
and  stability  of  the  sky-tent,  which  phenomenally 
(and  scripture  for  the  most  part  speaks  phenomenally), 
is  drawn  over  the  earth ;  and  to  reproduce  the  force 
of  the  original  Hebrew  word  —  in  which,  however, 
there  is  rather  the  notion  of  expansion  than  of  firm 
ness  (see  H.  More,  Defence  of  Cabbuta,  p.  60).  Hut 
beside  this  use  of  '  firmament,'  totally  strange  to  the 
classical  '  iirmamentum,'  being  derived  to  us  from  the 


FIRMAMENT — FONDLING.  75 

ecclesiastical  employment  of  the  word,  there  is  also 
an  occasional  use  of  it  by  the  scholarly  writers  of  the 
seventeenth  century  in  the  original  classical  sense,  as 
generally  that  which  makes  strong  or  confirms. 

I  thought  it  good  to  make  a  strong  head  or  bank  to  rule  and  guide 
the  course  of  the  waters  ;  by  setting  down  this  position  or  firmament, 
namely,  that  all  knowledge  is  to  be  limited  by  religion,  and  to  be  re 
ferred  to  use  and  action. 

Bacon,  Of  the  Interpretation  of  Nature. 

Custom  is  the  sanction,  or  the  firmament  of  the  law. 

J.  Taylor,  Apples  of  Sodom. 

FLICKER.  This  and  <  flutter'  are  thoroughly  desy- 
nonymized  now  ;  a  flame  '  flickers,'  a  bird  '  flutters  ;' 
but  it  was  not  so  once. 

But  being  made  a  swan, 
With  snowy  feathers  in  the  air  to  flicker  he  began. 

Golding,  Ovid's  Metamorphosis,  b.  vii. 


FLIRT.  Much  more  serious  charges  were  implied 
once  in  this  name  than  are  at  the  present,  as  will  be 
sufficiently  clear  from  the  quotations  which  follow. 

For  why  may  not  the  mother  be  naught,  a  peevish  drunken  flurt, 
a  waspish  choleric  slut,  a  crazed  piece,  a  fool,  as  soon  as  the  nurse  ? 
Burton,  The  Anatomy  of  Melancholy,  part  i.  sect.  2. 

Gadrouillette, /.  A  minx,  giggle,  flirt,  callet,  gixie;  (a  feigned 
word,  applicable  to  any  such  cattellj. 

Cotgrave,  A  French  and  English  Dictionary,  1660. 

• 

FONDLING.    '  Fond'  retains  to  this  day,  at  least  in 


76          FONDLING — FORLORN  HOPE. 

poetry,  not  seldom  the  sense  of  foolish ;  but  a  l  fond 
ling'  is  no  longer  a  fool. 

An  epicure  hath  some  reason  to  allege,  an  extortioner  is  a  man 
of  wisdom,  and  actcth  prudently  in  comparison  to  him ;  but  this 
fond/ing  [the  profane  swearer]  offendeth  heaven  and  abandoneth  hap 
piness  he  knoweth  not  why  or  for  what. 

Barrow,  Sermon  15. 

We  have  many  such  fondlinys,  that  are  their  wives'  pack-horses 

and  slaves. 

Burton,  The  Anatomy  of  Melancholy,  part  iii.  sect.  3. 


FORLORN  HOPE.  There  are  two  points  of  difference 
between  the  past  use  of  '  forlorn  hope'  and  the  present. 
The  first,  that  it  was  seldom  used  —  I  can  not  myself 
recall  a  single  example  —  in  that  which  is  now  its 
only  application,  namely,  of  those  who,  being  the  first 
to  mount  the  breach,  thus  set  their  lives  upon  a  des 
perate  hazard  ;  but  always  of  the  skirmishers  and 
others  thrown  out  in  front  of  an  army  about  to  engage. 
Here  indeed  the  central  notion  of  the  word  may  be 
said  to  be  the  same  as  it  is  now.  These  first  come  to 
hand-strokes  with  the  enemy  ;  they  bear  the  brunt  of 
their  onset ;  and  there  may  therefore  seem  less  likeli 
hood  that  they  will  escape  than  those  who  come  after. 
This  is  quite  true,  and  it  comes  remarkably  out  in  one 
of  my  quotations  from  Holland.  But  in  passages  in 
numerable  this  of  the  greater  hazard  to  which  the 
4  forlorn  hope'  are  exposed,  lias  noticeably  enough 
quite  disappeared  from  the  phrase,  and  they  are  sim 
ply  that  part  of  the  army  which,  being  posted  in  the 


FORLORN  HOPE — FORMALITY.          77 

front,  commences  the  engagement.  In  this  sense  it  is 
often  merely  the  '  forlorn,'  '  hope'  being  omitted.*  It 
would  be  curious  to  know  when  '  forlorn  hope'  first 
appeared  in  the  language.  The  first  example  I  find 
of  it  is  in  Gascoigne's  Fruits  of  War,  st.  74. 

These  [the  Roman  Velites]  were  loose  troops,  answerable  in  a 
manner  to  those  which  we  call  now  by  a  French  name  Enfans  Per- 
dues,  but  when  we  use  our  own  terms,  The  Forlorn  Hope. 

Sir  W.  Raleigh,  The  History  of  the  World,  b.  v.  c.  3,  §  8. 

Before  the  main  battle  of  the  Carthaginians  he  sets  the  auxiliaries 
and  aid-soldiers,  a  confused  rabble  and  medley  of  all  sorts  of  nations, 
who,  as  the  forlorn  hope,  bearing  the  furious  heat  of  the  first  brunt, 
might,  if  they  did  no  other  good,  yet  with  receiving  many  a  wound  in 
their  bodies  dull  and  turn  the  edge  of  the  enemy's  sword. 

Holland,  Livij,  p.  765. 

U|  on  them  the  light-armed  forlorn  hope  [qui  primi  agminis  crant] 
of  archers  and  darters  of  the  Roman  host,  which  went  before  the  bat 
tle  to  skirmish,  charged  forcibly  with  their  shot. 

Id.,  76.  p.  641  ;  cf.  1149,  1150,  1195. 

Christ's  descent  into  hell  was  not  ad  pradicandum,  to  preach ; 
useless,  where  his  auditory  was  all  the  forlorn  hope. 

Fuller,  The  Worthies  of  England,  Hampshire. 

FORMALITY.  It  was  observed  above  on  the  phrase, 
i  common  sense,'  that  a  vast  number  of  our  words 
have  descended  to  us  from  abstruse  sciences  and  spec 
ulations,  we  accepting  them  often  in  a  total  uncon- 

*  The  fearful  are  in  the  forlorn  of  those  that  march  for  hell. 

Gurnall,  The  Christian  in  Complete  Armour,  c.  1. 

They  [the  Enniskillen  horse]  offered  with  spirit  to  make  always 
the  forlorn  of  the  army. 

Dryden's  Works  (Scott's  edition),  vol.  vii.  p.  303. 


78  FORMALITY — FRANCE. 

sciousncss  of  the  quarter  from  which  they  come. 
Another  proof  of  this  assertion  is  here ;  only  as  it 
was  metaphysics  there,  it  is  logic  here  which  has  given 
us  the  word.  It  is  curious  to  trace  the  steps  by  which 
'  formality,'  which  meant  in  the  language  of  the  schools 
the  essentiality,  the  innermost  heart  of  a  thing,  should 
now  mean  something  not  merely  so  different,  but  so 
opposite. 

According  to  the  rule  of  the  casuists,  the  formality  of  prodigality 
is  inordinateness  of  our  laying  out,  or  misbestowing  on  what  we 

should  not. 

"Whitlock,  Zootomia,  p.  497. 

When  the  school  makes  pertinacy  or  obstinacy  to  be  the  formality 
of  heresy,  they  say  not  true  at  all,  unless  it  be  meant  the  obstinacy 
of  the  will  and  choice;  and  if  I  hey  do,  they  speak  impertinently  and 
inartincially,  this  being  but  one  of  the  causes  that  makes  error  become 
heresy ;  the  adequate  and  perfect  formality  of  heresy  is  whatsoever 
makes  the  error  voluntary  and  vicious. 

J.  Taylor,  The  Liberty  of  Prophesying,  §  2.  10. 

FRANCE,  )  We  consider  now,  and  consider  right- 
FRENCHMAN.  I  ly,  that  there  was  properly  no  'France' 
before  they  were  Franks ;  and,  speaking  of  the  land 
or  people  before  the  Frankish  immigration,  we  use 
Gaul,  Gauls,  and  Gaulish  ;  just  as  we  speak  of  Caesar's 
invasion  of  Britain,  not  his  invasion  of  England:  our 
fathers  had  no  such  scruples. 

When  Caesar  saw  his  army  prone  to  war, 
And  fates  so  bent,  lest  sloth  and  long  delay 
Might  cross  him,  he  withdrew  his  troops  from  France, 
And  in  all  quarters  musters  men  for  Rome. 

Marlowe,  The  First  Book  of  Lucan. 


FRANCE — FRIPPERY.  79 

A  Frenchman  together  with  a  Frenchwoman,  likewise  a  Grecian 
man  and  woman,  were  let  down  alive  in  the  beast-market  into  a  vault 

under  the  ground,  stoned  all  about. 

Holland,  Livy,  p.  467. 


FRIGHTFUL.  Now  always  active,  that  which  inspires 
fright ;  but  formerly  as  often  passive ,  that  which  is, 
or  is  liable  to  be,  frightened. 

The  wild  and  frightful  herds, 
Not  hearing  other  noise  but  this  of  chattering  bird  •, 

Feed  fairly  on  the  lawns. 

Drayton,  Polyolbion. 

FRIPPERY.  Now  such  trumpery,  such  odds  and  ends 
of  cheap  finery,  as  one  might  expect  to  meet  at  an 
old-clothes  shop  ;  but  in  our  early  dramatists  and 
others  of  their  time,  the  shop  itself  where  old  clothes 
were  scoured,  '  interpolated,'  and  presented  anew  for 
sale  (officina  vestium  tritarum,  Skinner)  ;  nor  had 
'  frippery'  then  the  contemptuous  subaudition  of  worth- 
lessness  in  the  objects  offered  for  sale  which  its  pres 
ent  use  would  imply. 

Enter  Luke,  with  shoes,  garters,  fans,  and  roses. 
Gold.  Here  he  comes,  sweating  all  over, 
He  shows  like  a  walking  frippery. 

Massinger,  The  City  Madam,  Act  i.  Sc.  1. 

Hast  thou  foresworn  all  thy  friends  in  the  Old  Jewry  ?  or  dost  thou 
think  us  all  Jews  that  inhabit  there  ?  Yet,  if  thou  dost,  come  over, 
and  but  see  our  frippery.  Change  an  old  shirt  for  a  whole  smock 
with  us. 

Ben  Jonson,  Every  Man  in  his  Humour,  Act  i.  Sc.  1. 


80  FULSOME. 

FULSOME,  1  I  have  seen  it  questioned  whether  in 
FCLSOMENESS.  J  the  first  syllable  of  '  fulsome'  we  are 
to  find  '  foul'  or  '  full.'  There  should  be  no  question 
on  the  matter :  seeing  that  '  fulsome'  is  properly  no 
more  than  '  full,'  and  then  secondly  that  which  by  its 
fulness  and  overfulncss  produces  first  satiety,  and  then 
loathing  and  disgust.  This  meaning  of  '  fulsome'  is 
still  retained  in  our  only  present  application  of  the 
word,  namely,  to  compliments  and  flattery,  which  by 
their  grossness  produce  this  effect  on  him  who  is  their 
object ;  but  the  word  had  once  many  more  applications 
than  this. 

His  lean,  pale,  hoar,  and  withered  corpse  grew  fulsome,  fair,  and 

fresh. 

Golding,  Grid's  Metamorphosis,  b.  vii. 

The  next  is  Doctrine,  in  whose  lips  there  dwells 
A  spring  of  honey,  sweeter  than  its  name, 
Honey  which  never  fulsome  is,  yet  Jills 

The  widest  souls. 

Beaumont,  Psyche,  b.  xix.  st.  210. 

Making  her  soul  to  loathe  dainty  meat,  or  putting  a  surfeit  and 
fulsomeness  into  all  which  she  enjoys. 

Rogers,  Naaman  the  Syrian,  p.  32. 

Chaste  and  modest  as  he  [Persius]  is  esteemed,  it  cannot  be  denied 
but  that  in  some  places  he  is  broad  and  fulsome.  No  decency  is  con 
sidered;  no  fulsomeness  omitted. 

Drydcn,  Dedication  of  Translations  from  Juvenal. 


GARB — GARBLE.  81 


G. 

GARB.  This  is  one  of  many  words,  whereof  all  the 
meaning  has  run  to  the  surface.  A  man's  dress  was 
once  only  a  portion,  and  a  very  small  portion  of  his 
i  garb,'  which  included  his  whole  outward  presentment 
to  other  men  ;  now  it  is  all. 

First,  for  your  garb,  it  must  be  grave  and  serious, 
Very  reserved  and  locked ;  not  tell  a  secret 
On  any  terms,  not  to  your  father. 

Ben  Jonson,  The  Fox,  Act  iv.  Sc.  1. 

The  greatest  spirits,  and  those  of  the  best  and  noblest  breeding, 
are  ever  the  most  respective  and  obsequious  in  their  garb,  and  the 
most  observant  and  grateful  in  their  language  to  all. 

Feltham,  Resolves,  Ixxv. 

A  vtjjivonpiirtia  in  his  person,  a  grave  and  a  smiling  garb  compound 
ed  together  to  bring  strangers  into  a  liking  of  their  welcome. 

Racket,  The  Life  of  Archbishop  Williams,  part  ii.  p.  32. 

GARBLE.  Books  only  are  '  garbled'  now ;  and  '  gar 
bled'  extracts  are  extracts  which  have  been  dishon 
estly  made,  which  have  been  so  shifted,  mutilated, 
and  otherwise  dealt  with,  that,  while  they  are  pre 
sented  as  fair  specimens,  they  convey  a  false  impres 
sion.  It  is  not  difficult  to  trace  the  downward  prog 
ress  of  the  word.  It  is  derived  from  the  low  Latin 
'  garba,'  a  wheatsheaf,  and  '  garbellare,'  to  sift  or 
cleanse  corn  from  any  dust  or  rubbish  which  may  have 
become  mingled  with  it.  It  was  then  applied  to  any 

4* 


82  GARBLING — GARLAND. 

separation  of  the  good  from  the  bad,  retaining  that, 
rejecting  this,  and  used  thus  especially  of  spices  ;  then 
generally  to  picking  and  choosing,  but  without  any 
intention  to  select  the  better  and  to  dismiss  the  worse  ; 
and  lastly,  as  at  present,  to  picking  and  choosing  with 
the  distinct  purpose  of  selecting  the  worse,  and  dis 
missing  the  better.  It  is  a  very  favorite  word  in  its 
earlier  uses  with  Fuller. 

Garbling  of  bow-staves  (anno  1  R.  3,  cap.  11 )  is  the  sorting  or  cul 
ling  out  of  the  good  from  the  bad. 

Cowell,  The  Interpreter,  s.  v. 

There  was  a  fair  hospital,  built  to  the  honour  of  St.  Anthony  in 
Bennct's  Fink,  in  this  city  ;  the  protectors  and  proctors  whereof  claimed 
a  privilege  to  themselves,  to  garble  the  live  pigs  in  the  markets  of  the 
city ;  and  such  as  they  found  starved  or  otherwise  unwholesome  for 
man's  sustenance  they  would  slit  in  the  ear,  tie  a  bell  about  their 
necks,  and  turn  them  loose  about  the  city. 

Fuller,  The  Worthies  of  England,  London. 

Garbling  men's  manners  you  did  well  divide, 
To  take  the  Spaniards'  wisdom,  not  their  pride. 
With  French  activity  you  stored  your  mind, 
Leaving  to  them  their  fickleness  behind ; 
And  soon  did  learn,  your  temperance  was  such, 
A  sober  industry  even  from  the  Dutch. 

Id.,  The  Worthies  of  England ;  A  Panegyric  on  Charles  II. 

To  garble,  to  cleanse  from  dross  and  dirt,  as  grocers  do  their  spices, 
to  pick  or  cull  out. 

Phillips,  The  New  World  of  Words. 

GARLAND.  At  present  we  know  no  other  *  garlands' 
but  of  flowers  ;  but  '  garland'  was  at  one  time  a  tech 
nical  name  for  the  royal  crown  or  diadem,  and  not  a 
poetical  one,  as  might  at  first  sight  appear  ;  as  witness 


GARLAND — GAZETTE.  83 

these  words  of  Matthew  of  Paris  in  his  Life  of  Hen 
ry  III. :  Rex  veste  deaurata,  et  coronuLi  aurea,  qua3 
vulgariter  garlanda  dicitur,  redimitus. 

In  the  adoption  and  obtaining  of  the  garland,  I  being  seduced  and 
provoked  by  sinister  counsel  did  commit  a  naughty  and  abominable 

act. 

Grafton,  Chronicle  of  King  Richard  III. 

In  whose  [Edward  the  Fourth's]  time,  and  by  whose  occasion, 
what  about  the  getting  of  the  garland,  keeping  it,  losing  and  winning 
again,  it  hath  cost  more  English  blood  than  hath  twice  the  winning 

of  France. 

Sir  T.  More,  The  History  of  King  Richard  HI.,  p.  107. 

What  in  me  was  purchased, 
Falls  unto  thee  in  a  more  fairer  sort ; 
So  thou  the  garland  wear'st  successively. 

Shakespeare,  2  Henry  IV.  Act  iv.  Sc.  4. 

GAZETTE.  An  Italian  word,  signifying  originally,  as 
is  well  known,  a  small  piece  of  tin  money  current  at 
Venice ;  which  being  the  price  at  which  the  flying  sheets 
of  news,  first  published  there,  were  sold,  in  this  way 
gave  to  them  their  name  ;  and  they  also  were  called 
4  gazettes.'  We  see  the  word  in  this  its  secondary 
sense,  but  not  as  yet  thoroughly  at  home  in  English, 
for  it  still  retains  an  Italian  termination,  in  Ben  Jon- 
son's  Volpone  (Act  v.  Sc.  2),  of  which  the  scene  is 
laid  at  Venice.  Curiously  enough  the  same  play  gives 
also  an  example,  quoted  below,  of  the  word  in  its 
earlier  use. 

If  you  will  have  a  stool,  it  will  cost  you  a  gazet,  which  is  almost  a 

penny. 

Coryat,  Crudities,  vol.  ii.  p.  15. 


84  GAZETTE — GENEROSITY. 

What  monstrous  and  most  painful  circumstance 
Is  here  to  get  some  three  or  four  gazettes, 
Some  threepence  in  the  whole. 

Ben  Jonson,  Volpone,  Act  ii.  Sc.  1. 


GELDING.  Restrained  at  present  to  horses  which 
have  ceased  to  be  entire;  but  until  'eunuch/  which 
is  of  somewhat  late  adoption,  had  been  introduced 
into  the  language,  serving  the  turns  which  that  serves 
now. 

Thanne  Joseph  was  lad  into  Egepte,  and  bought  him  Potiphar, 
the  gelding  of  Pharao. 

Gen.  xxxix.  1.  Wiclif. 

And  whanne  thei  weren  come  up  of  the  water,  the  spirit  of  the 
Lord  ravyschid  Filip,  and  the  geldynge  say  hym  no  more. 

Acts  viii.  39.  Wiclif. 

Lysimachus  was  very  angry,  and  thought  great  scorn  that  Deme 
trius  should  reckon  him  a  gelding. 

North,  Plutarch's  Lives,  p.  741. 


GENEROSITY.  We  still  use  '  generous'  occasionally 
in  the  sense  of  highly  or  nobly  born  ;  but '  generosity' 
has  quite  lost  this  its  earlier  sense,  and  acquired  a 
purely  ethical  meaning. 

Nobility  began  in  thine  ancestors,  and  ended  in  thee ;  and  the  gen 
erosity  that  they  gained  by  virtue,  thou  hast  blotted  by  vice. 

Lyly,  Kuphucs  and  his  England. 

Their  eyes  are  commonly  black  and  small,  noses  little,  nails  almost 
as  long  as  their  ringers,  but  serving  to  distinguish  their  generosity. 

Harris,  Voyages,  vol.  i.  p.  465. 


GESTATION — GLORY.  85 

GESTATION,  Now  a  technical  word  applied  only  to 
the  period  during  which  the  females  of  animals  carry 
their  young ;  but  acknowledging  no  such  limitation 
once. 

Gestation  in  a  chariot  or  wagon  hath  in  it  a  shaking  of  the  body, 
but  some  vehement,  and  some  more  soft. 

Sir  T.  Elyot,  The  Castle  o/  Health,  b.  ii.  c.  34. 

Gestation,  an  exercise  of  the  body,  by  being  carried  in  coach,  litter, 
upon  horseback,  or  in  a  vessel  on  the  water. 

Holland,  Pliny,  The  Explanation  of  the  Words  of  Art. 


GLORY.     )  <  Glory'  is  never  employed  now  in  the 
GLORIOUS,  j  sense  of  '  vatw-glory,'  nor  <  glorious'  in 
that  of  ;  vaiw-glorious,'  as  once  they  often  were. 

In  military  commanders  and  soldiers  vain-glory  is  an  essential 
point ;  for  as  iron  sharpens  iron,  so  by  glory  one  courage  sharpeneth 

another. 

Bacon,  Essays,  54. 

So  commonly  actions  begun  in  glory  shut  up  in  shame. 

Bishop  Hall,  Contemplations,  On  BabeL 

Some  took  this  for  a  glorious  brag ;  others  thought  he  [Alcibiades] 

was  like  enough  to  have  done  it. 

North,  Plutarch's  Lives,  p.  183. 

Likewise  glorious  followers,  who  make  themselves  as  trumpets  of 
the  commendation  of  those  they  follow,  are  full  of  inconvenience ;  for 
they  taint  business  through  want  of  secrecy,  and  they  export  honour 

from  a  man  and  make  him  a  return  in  envy. 

Bacon,  Essays,  48. 

He  [Anselm]  little  dreamt  then  that  the  weeding-hook  of  Refor 
mation  would  after  two  ages  pluck  up  his  glorious  poppy  [prelacy] 
from  insulting  over  the  good  corn  [presbytery]. 

Milton,  The  Reason  of  Church  Government,  b.  i.  c   5. 


86  GOOD    NATURE. 

GOOD  NATURE.  As  Metaphysics  have  yielded  us 
'common  sense,'  and  logic  '  formality,'  so  we  owe  to 
theology  '  good  nature.'  By  it  our  elder  divines  un 
derstood  far  more  than  we  understand  by  it  now ; 
even  all  which  it  is  possible  for  a  man  to  have  with 
out  having  the  grace  of  God.  The  contrast  between 
grace  and  nature  was  of  course  unknown  to  the 
Greeks ;  but,  this  being  kept  in  mind,  we  may  say 
that  the  '  good  nature'  of  our  old  theology  was  as 
as  nearly  as  possible  expressed  by  the  su<puta  of  Aris 
totle  (Eth.  NIC.  iii.  7).  the  genial  preparedness  for 
the  reception  of  every  high  teaching. 

Good  nature,  being  the  relics  and  remains  of  that  shipwreck  which 
Adam  made,  is  the  proper  and  immediate  disposition  to  holiness. 
When  good  nature  is  heightened  bv  the  grace  of  God,  that  which  was 
natural  becomes  now  spiritual. 

J.  Taylor,  Sermon  preached  at  the  Funeral  of  Sir  George  Dalstone. 

Good  nature!  alas,  where  is  it  ?  Since  Adam  fell,  there  was  never 
any  such  thing  in  rerum  natura;  if  there  be  any  good  thing  in  any 
man,  it  is  all  from  grace.  That  thing  which  we  use  to  call  <jood  na 
ture  is  indeed  but  a  subordinate  means  or  instrument,  whereby  God 
restraineth  some  men  more  than  others  from  their  birth,  and  special 
constitution,  from  sundry  outrageous  exorbitances,  and  so  is  a  branch 
of  this  restraining  grace  whereof  we  now  speak. 

Sanderson,  Sermons,  1671,  vol.  i.  p.  279. 

If  any  good  did  appear  in  the  conversation  of  some  men  who  fol 
lowed  that  religion  [the  Pagan],  it  is  not  to  be  imputed  to  the  influ 
ence  of  that,  but  to  some  better  cause ;  to  the  relics  of  qcod  nature,  to 
the  glimmerings  of  natural  light,  or  (perhaps  also)  to  secret  whispers 
and  impressions  of  divine  grace  on  some  men's  minds,  vouchsafed  in 

pity  to  them. 

Barrow,  Sermon  14  on  the  Apostles'  Creed. 

They  [infidels]  explode  all  natural  differences  of  good  and  evil ; 


GOOD   NATURE — GOSSIP.  87 

deriding  benignity,  mercy,  pity,  gratitude,  ingenuity;   that  is,  all  in 
stances  of  good  nature,  as  childish  and  silly  dispositions. 

Id.,  Sermon  6  on  the  Apostles'  Creed, 


GOSPELLER.  Now  seldom  used  save  in  ritual  lan 
guage,  and  there  designating  the  priest  or  deacon 
who  in  the  divine  service  reads  the  Gospel  of  the 
day  ;  but  once  used  as  equivalent  to  Evangelist,  and 
subsequently  applied  to  adherents  of  the  Reformed 
faith  ;  both  which  meanings  have  since  departed  from 
it. 

Mark,  the  gospeller,  was  the  goostli  sone  of  Petre  in  baptysm. 

Wiclif,  The  Prologe  of  Marke. 

The  persecution  was  carried  on  against  the  gospellers  with  much 
fierceness  by  those  of  the  Roman  persuasion. 

Strype,  Memorials  of  Archbishop  Cranmer,  b.  iii.  c.  16. 

GOSSIP.  It  would  be  interesting  to  collect  instances 
in  which  the  humbler  classes  of  society  have  retained 
the  correct  use  of  a  word,  which  has  been  let  go  by 
those  who  would  rather  claim  to  be  guardians  of  the 
purity  of  their  native  tongue.  c  Gossip'  is  one,  being 
still  used  by  our  peasantry  in  its  first  and  etymologi 
cal  sense,  namely,  as  a  sponsor  in  baptism  —  one  sib 
or  akin  in  God,  according  to  the  doctrine  of  the  me 
dieval  Church,  that  sponsors  contracted  a  spiritual 
affinity  with  one  another,  with  the  parents,  and  with 
the  child  itself.  '  Gossips,'  in  this  primary  sense, 
would  ordinarily  be  intimate  and  familiar  with  one 
another — would  have  been  so  already,  or  through 


88  GOSSIP — GRUDGE. 

this  affinity  would  have  become  so  ;  and  thus  the  word 
was  next  applied  to  all  familiars  and  intimates.  At 
a  later  day  it  obtained  the  meaning  which  is  now  pre 
dominant  in  it,  namely,  the  idle,  profitless  talk,  the 
4  commeragc'  (which  word  has  exactly  the  same  his 
tory),  that  too  often  finds  place  in  the  intercourse  of 
such. 

They  had  mothers  as  we  had;  and  those  mothers  had  gossips  (if 
their  children  were  christened)  as  we  are. 

Ben  Jonson,  The  Staple  of  News,  The  Induction. 

Thus  fareth  the  golden  mean,  through  the  misconstruction  of  the 
extremes.  Well-tempered  zeal  is  lukewarmness  ;  devotion  is  hypoc 
risy  ;  charity,  ostentation ;  constancy,  obstinacy ;  gravity,  pride ;  hu 
mility,  abjection  of  spirit ;  and  so  go  through  the  whole  parish  of  vir 
tues,  where  misprision  and  envy  are  gossips,  be  sure  the  child  shall  be 

nicknamed. 

Whitlock,  Zootomia,  p.  3. 

Should  a  great  lady  that  was  invited  to  be  a  gossip,  in  her  place 
send  her  kitchen-maid,  'twould  be  ill  taken. 

Selden,  Table-Talk,  Prayer. 

GRAVEL.  This  verb  has  lost  now  any  but  a  second 
ary  and  figurative  meaning.  But  the  way  in  which 
'  to  be  gravelled'  should  mean  to  be  utterly  perplexed 
and  brought  to  an  intellectual  standstill,  the  passage 
quoted  below  will  show. 

And  when  we  were  fallen  into  a  place  between  two  seas,  they 
gravelled  the  ship  [iinpcgerunt  navem,  Vulg.]. 

Acts  xxvii.  41.  Rheims. 

GRUDGE.  Now  to  repine  at  the  good  which  others 
already  have,  or  which  we  may  be  required  to  impart 


GRUDGE — GUARD.  89 

to  them  ;  but  it  formerly  implied  open  utterances  of 
discontent  and  displeasure  with  others,  and  did  the 
work  which  '  to  murmur'  does  now.  Traces  of  this 
still  survive  in  our  English  Bible. 

And  the  farisies  and  scribis  gruechiden  ;  seiynge  for  this  resceyveth 

synful  men  and  eteth  with  hem. 

Luke  xv.  2.  Wiclif. 

Yea  without  grudging  Christ  suffered  the  cruel  Jews  to  crown  Him 
with  most  sharp  thorns,  and  to  strike  Him  with  a  reed. 

Foxe,  The  Book  of  Martyrs;  Examination  of  William  Thorpe. 

Use  hospitality  one  to  another  without  grudging  [avev  yoyywr^wy]. 

1  Pet.  iv.  9.  Authorized  Version. 

GROPE.  Now  to  feel  /or,  and  uncertainly,  as  does 
a  blind  man  or  one  in  the  dark  ;  but  once  simply  to 
feel,  to  gripe  or  grasp. 

Handis  thei  hav,  and  thei  shal  not  grope  [et  non  palpabunt,  Vulg.]. 

Ps.  cxiii.  7.  Wiclif. 

I  have  touched  and  tasted  the  Lord,  and  groped  Him  with  hands, 
and  yet  unbelief  have  made  all  unsavoury. 

Rogers,  Naaman  the  Syrian,  p.  231. 


GUARD.  Is  '  guard/  in  the  sense  of  welt  or  border 
to  a  garment,  nothing  more  than  a  special  application 
of  '  guard,'  as  it  is  familiar  to  us  all  ?  or  is  it  alto 
gether  a  different  word  with  its  own  etymology,  and 
only  by  accident  offering  the  same  letters  in  the  same 
sequence  ?  I  have  assumed,  though  not  with  perfect 
confidence,  the  former  ;  for  indeed  otherwise  the  word 
would  have  no  right  to  a  place  here. 


90  GUARD — HANDSOME. 

Antipater  wears  in  outward  show  his  apparel  with  a  plain  white 
welt  or  guard,  but  he  is  within  all  purple,  I  warrant  you,  and  as  red 

as  scarlet. 

Holland,  Plutarch's  Morals,  p.  412. 

Then  were  the  fathers  of  those  children  glad  men  to  see  their  sons 
apparelled  like  Romans,  in  fair  long  gowns,  yarded  with  purple. 

North,  Plutarch's  Lives,  p.  492. 

Give  him  a  livery 
More  guarded  than  his  fellows. 

Shakespeare,  The  Merchant  of  Venice,  Act  ii.  Sc.  2. 


H. 

HAG.  One  of  the  many  words  which,  applied  for 
merly  to  both  sexes,  arc  now  restrained  only  to  one. 
Our  Dictionaries  take  no  notice  of  the  wider  use  of 
the  word. 

And  that  old  hag  [Silenus]  that  with  a  staff  his  staggering  limbs 

doth  stay, 
Scarce  able  on  his  ass  to  sit  for  reeling  every  wa}\ 

Golding,  Ovid's  Metamorphosis,  b.  iv. 


HANDSOME,  )  Now  referred  exclusively  to  come- 
HANDSOMENESS.  j  liness,  either  literal  or  figurative. 
It  is  of  course  closely  connected  witli  '  handy,'  indeed 
differs  from  it  only  in  termination,  and  in  all  early 
uses  means  having  prompt  and  dexterous  use  of  the 
hands,  and  then  generally  able,  adroit.  In  Cotgrave's 
French  and  English  Dictionary,  '  habile,'  '  adroit,' 


HANDSOME — HARBINGER.  91 

«  maniable,'  take   precedence  of  4  beau,'   <  belle,'   as 
French  equivalents  of  it. 

Few  of  them  [the  Germans]  use  swords  or  great  lances  ;  but  carry 
javelins  with  a  narrow  and  short  iron,  but  so  sharp  and  handsome, 
that,  as  occasion  serveth,  with  the  sarne  weapon  they  can  fight  both 

at  hand  and  afar  off. 

Greenwey,  Tacitus,  vol.  i.  259. 

A  light  footman's  shield  he  takes  unto  him,  and  a  Spanish  blade 
by  his  side,  more  handsome  to  fight  short  and  close  [ad  propiorem 
habili  pugnam]. 

Holland,  Livy,  p.  255. 

Philopoemen  sought  to  put  down  all  exercise,  which  made  men's 
bodies  unmeet  to  take  pains,  and  to  become  soldiers  to  fight  in  defence 
of  their  country,  that  otherwise  would  have  been  very  able  and  hand 
some  for  the  same. 

North,  Plutarch's  Lives,  p.  306. 

Both  twain  of  them  made  haste, 

And  girding  close  for  handsomeness  their  garments  to  their  waist, 
Bestirred  their  cunning  hands  apace. 

Golding,  Ovid's  Metamorphosis,  b.  vi. 

HARBINGER.  This  word  belongs  at  present  to  our 
poetical  Xf'gi?,  and  to  that  only ;  its  original  signifi 
cance  being  nearly  or  quite  forgotten,  as  is  evident 
from  the  inaccurate  ways  in  which  it  has  come  to  be 
used  ;  as  though  a  '  harbinger'  were  merely  one  who 
announced  the  coming,  and  not  always  one  who  pre 
pared  a  place  and  lodging,  a  '  harbor,'  for  another. 
He  did  indeed  announce  the  near  approach,  but  only 
as  an  accidental  consequence  of  his  office.  Our  Lord, 
if  we  may  reverently  say  it,  precisely  assumed  to  Him 
self  the  office  of  a  '  harbinger,'  when  He  said,  "  I  go 
to  prepare  a  place  for  you"  (John  xiv.  2). 


92  HARBINGER — HARDY. 

There  was  a  harbinger  who  had  lodged  a  gentleman  in  a  very  ill 
room  ;  who  expostulated  with  him  somewhat  rudely ;  but  the  harbin 
ger  carelessly  said,  "  You  will  take  pleasure  in  it  when  you  are  out 
of  it." 

Bacon,  Apothegms. 

I'll  be  myself  the  harbinger,  and  make  joyful 
The  hearing  of  my  wife  with  your  approach. 

Shakespeare,  Macbeth,  Act  i.  Sc.  4. 

The  fame  of  Frederick's  valour  and  maiden  fortune,  never  as  yet 
spotted  with  ill  success,  like  a  liarbint/cr  hastening  before,  had  pro 
vided  victory  to  entertain  him  at  his  arrival. 

Fuller,  The  Holy  War,  b.  iii.  c.  31. 


HARDY,  j  When  used  of  persons,  <  hardy*  means 
HARDILY.  }  always  now  enduring,  indifferent  to  fa 
tigue,  hunger,  thirst,  heat,  cold,  and  the  like.  But  it 
had  once  a  far  more  prevailing  sense  of  bold,  which 
now  only  remains  to  it  in  connection  with  things,  as 
we  should  still  speak  of  a  i  hardy,'  meaning  thereby 
a  bold,  assertion  ;  though  never  now  of  a  '  hardy,'  if 
we  intended  a  bold  or  daring  person.  In  respect  of 
the  quotation  from  Lord  Bacon,  the  reader  must  bear 
in  mind  that  his  Charles  the  Hardy  is  Charles  le 
Temeraire,  or  Charles  the  Bold,  as  we  always  style 
him  now. 

Hap  helpeth  Itardy  man  alway,  quoth  he. 

Chaucer,  The  Legend  of  Good  Women. 

It  is  not  to  be  forgotten  what  Commineus  observeth  of  his  first 
master,  duke  Charles  the  Hardy,  riamely,  that  he  would  communi 
cate  his  secrets  with  none. 

Bacon,  Ettaya,  27. 


HARDY — HARNESS.  93 

Hardily  [audactcr,  Vulg.]  he  entride  in  to  Pilat,  and  axide  the 

bodv  of  Jhesu. 

Mark  xv.  43.  Wiclif. 


HARLOT.  I  have  no  desire  to  entangle  myself  in 
the  question  of  this  word's  etymology ;  it  is  sufficient 
to  observe  that  it  was  used  of  both  sexes  alike ;  and 
though  for  the  most  part  a  word  of  slight  and  con 
tempt,  implied  nothing  of  that  special  form  of  sin  to 
which  it  exclusively  refers  at  the  present. 

A  sturdy  harlot  went  hem  ay  behind, 
That  was  his  hostes  man,  and  bare  a  sakke, 
And  what  men  gave  him,  laid  it  on  his  bakke. 

Chaucer,  The  Sompnoures  Tale. 

No  man  but  he  and  thou  and  such  other  false  harlots  praiseth  any 
such  preaching. 

Foxe,  The  Book  of  Martyrs ;   The  Examination  of  William  Thorpe. 

About  this  time  [A.  D.  1264]  a  redress  of  certain  sects  was  intended, 
among  which  one  by  name  specially  occurreth,  and  called  the  assem 
bly  of  harlots,*  a  kind  of  people  of  a  lewd  disposition  and  uncivil. 

Id.,  Ib.  vol.  i.  p.  435. 

HARNESS.  In  French  the  difference  between  the 
4  harness*  of  a  man  and  of  a  horse  is  expressed  by  a 
slight  difference  in  the  spelling,  '  harnois'  in  one  case, 
'  harnais'  in  the  other.  In  English  we  only  retain  it 
now  in  the  second  of  these  applications. 


*  '  Qui  so  harJotos  appellant'  are  the  important  words  in  Henry  the 
Third's  letter  to  the  Sheriff  of  Oxfordshire,  requiring  their  disper 
sion. 


94  HARNESS — HEAR. 

But  when  a  stronger  than  lie  comctli  upon  him  and  ovcrcomcth 
him,  he'  taketh  from  him  his  harness  wherein  he  trusted,  and  divideth 
his  goods. 

Luke  xi.  22.  Tyndale. 

Those  that  sleep  in  Jesus  shall  God  bring  witli  Him,  and  harness 
them  with  the  bright  armour  of  life  and  immortality. 

H.  More,  The  Grand  Mystery  of  Godliness,  b.  iv.  c.  18. 


HARVEST.  It  is  remarkable  that  while  spring,  sum 
mer,  winter,  have  all  their  Anglo  Saxon  names,  we 
designate  the  other  quarter  of  the  year  by  its  Latin 
title  '  autumn  ;'  the  word  which  should  have  designa 
ted  it,  '  harvest,'  '  hearfest'  (—  the  German  '  Herbst'), 
having  been  appropriated  to  the  ingathering  of  the 
fruits  of  this  season,  not  to  the  season  itself.  In  this 
indeed  we  are  truer  to  the  proper  meaning  of  '  har 
vest'  than  the  Germans,  who  have  transferred  the 
word  from  the  former  to  the  latter ;  for  it  is  closely 
related  with  the  Greek  xap*ro'.c  and  the  Latin  '  carpo.' 
Occasionally,  however,  as  in  the  passage  which  fol 
lows,  '  harvest'  assumes  with  us  also  the  signification 
of  autumn. 

There  stood  the  Springtime  with  a  crown  of  fresh  and  fragrant 

flowers ; 

There  waited  Summer  naked  stark,  all  save  a  wheaten  hat; 
And  Harvest  smeared  with  treading  grapes  late  at  the  pressing  fat; 
And  lastly  quaking  for  the  cold  stood  Winter  all  forlorn. 

Golding,  Ovid's  Metamorphosis,  b.  ii. 

HEAR.     Our  scholars  of  the  seventeenth  century 
occasionally  use  the  Latin  idiom,  i  to  hear  well,'  or 


HEAR — HOBBY.  95 

*  to  hear  ill,'  i.  e.  concerning  oneself  (bene  audire, 
male  audire),  instead  of  to  be  praised,  or  to  be  blamed. 

[Fabius]  was  well  aware,  that  not  only  within  his  own  camp,  but 
also  now  at  Rome,  he  heard  ill  for  his  temporizing  and  slow  proceed 
ings- 
Holland,  Livy,  p.  441. 

What  more  national  corruption,  for  which  England  hears  ill  abroad, 

than  household  gluttony  ? 

Milton,  Areopagitica,  p.  431. 

The  abbot  made  his  mind  known  to  the  Lord  Keeper,  that  he 
would  gladly  be  present  in  the  Abbey  of  Westminster  on  our  Christ 
mas-day  in  the  morning,  to  behold  and  hear  how  that  great  feast  was 
solemnized  in  our  congregations,  which  heard  very  ill  beyond  the  seas 
for  profaneness. 

Bucket,  The  Life  of  Archbishop  Williams,  part  i.  p.  210 

HOBBY.  The  '  hobby'  being  the  ambling  nag  ridden 
for  pleasure,  and  then  the  child's  toy  in  imitation  of 
the  same,  had  in  these  senses  nearly  passed  out  of 
use,  when  the  word  revived,  by  a  very  natural  trans 
fer,  in  the  sense  which  it  now  has,  of  a  favorite  pur 
suit  which  carries  a  man  easily  and  pleasantly  for 
ward. 

The  French  lackey  and  Irish  footboy  shrugging  at  the  door,  with 
their  master's  hobby-horses,  to  ride  to  the  new  play. 

Decker,  The  Gull's  Hornbook,  c.  5. 

King  Agesilaus,  having  a  great  sort  of  little  children,  was  one  day 
disposed  to  solace  himself  among  them  in  a  gallery  where  they  played, 
and  took  a  little  hobby-horse  of  wood,  and  bestrid  it. 

Puttenham,  The  Art  of  English  Poesy,  b.  iii.  c.  24. 

A  hobby-horse,  or  some  such  pretty  toy, 
A  rattle  would  befit  you  better,  boy. 

Randolph,  Poems,  p.  19. 


96  HOMELY — HOYDEN. 

HOMELY.  The  etymology  of  '  homely'  which  Mil 
ton  puts  into  the  mouth  of  Comus  — 

"It  is  for  homely  features  to  keep  home; 
They  had  their  name  hence"  — 

witnesses  that  in  his  time  it  had  the  same  meaning 
which  it  now  has.  At  an  earlier  day,  however,  it 
much  more  nearly  corresponded  to  the  German  i  heim- 
lich,'  that  is,  secret,  inward,  familiar,  as  those  may 
be  presumed  to  be  that  share  in  a  common  home. 

And  the  enemyes  of  a  man  ben  thei  that  ben  homeli  with  him. 

Matt.  x.  36.  Wiclif ;  cf.  Judges  xix.  4,  and  often. 

God  grant  thee  thine  homly  fo  to  espie ; 
For  in  this  world  n'is  worse  pestilence 
Than  homly  fo,  all  day  in  thy  presence. 

Chaucer,  The  Merchantes  Tale. 

With  all  these  men  I  was  right  homely,  and  communed  with  them 
long  time  and  oft. 

Foxe,  The  Book  of  Martyrs ;   The  Examination  of  William  Tliorpe. 

HOYDEN.  Now  and  for  a  long  time  since  a  clown 
ish,  ill-bred  girl;  yet  I  cannot  doubt  that  Skinner  is 
right  when  he  finds  in  it  only  another  form  of  '  hea 
then.'  Remote  as  the  words  appear  at  starting,  it 
will  not  be  hard  to  bring  them  close  together.  In 
the  first  place,  it  is  only  by  a  superinduced  meaning 
that  '  heathen'  has  its  present  sense  of  non-Christian  ; 
it  is  properly,  as  Grimm  has  abundantly  shown,  a 
dweller  on  the  heath  ;  then  any  living  a  wild,  savage 
life  :  thus,  we  have  in  Wiclif  (Acts  xxviii.  1),  "And 
Ik f then  men  [barbari,  Vulg.]  dide  unto  us  not  litil 


HOYDEN — HUMOUR.  97 

curtcsie  ;"  and  only  afterward  was  the  word  applied 
to  those  who  resisted  to  the  last  the  humanizing  influ 
ences  of  the  Christian  faith.  This  *  heathen'  is  in 
Dutch  '  heyden  ;'  while  less  than  two  hundred  years 
ago  '  hoyden'  was  by  no  means  confined,  as  it  now  is, 
to  the  female  sex,  the  clownish,  ill-bred  wench,  but 
was  oftener  applied  to  men. 

Shall  I  argue  of  conversation  with  this  hoyden,  to  go  and  practise 

at  his  opportunities  in  the  larder? 

Milton,  Colasterion. 

Falourdin,  m.    A  bucke,  lowt,  lurden,  a  lubberly  sloven,  heavy  sot, 

lumpish  hoydon. 

Cotgrave,  A  French  and  English  Dictionary. 

Badault,  m.   A  fool,  dolt,  sot,  fop,  ass,  coxcomb,  gaping  hoydon. 

Id.,  Ib. 

A  rude  hoidon;  Grue,  badault,  falourdin,  becjaune ;  Balordo,  babi- 

onetto,  rustico ;  Bouaron. 

Howell,  Lexicon  Tetraglotton. 


HUMOUR,  ^  The  four  c  humours'  in  a  man,  accord- 
HUMOUROUS,  >  ing  to  the  old  physicians,  were  blood, 
HUMOURIST.  J  choler,  phlegm,  and  melancholy.  So 
long  as  these  were  duly  mixed,  all  would  be  well. 
But  so  soon  as  any  of  them  unduly  preponderated,  the 
man  became  '  humourous,'  one  4  humour'  or  another 
bearing  too  great  a  sway  in  him.  As  such,  his  con 
duct  would  not  be  according  to  the  received  rule  of 
other  men,  but  have  something  peculiar,  whimsical, 
self-willed  in  it.  In  this  the  self-asserting  character 
of  the  '  humourous'  man  lay  the  point  of  contact,  the 
middle  term,  between  the  modern  use  of  'humour' 

5 


98  HUMOUR. 

and  the  ancient.  It  was  his  '  humour'  which  would 
lead  a  man  to  take  an  original  view  and  aspect  of 
things,  a  '  humourous'  aspect,  first  in  the  old  sense, 
and  then  in  that  which  we  now  employ. 

In  which  [kingdom  of  heaven]  neither  such  high-flown  enthusiasts, 
nor  any  dry  churlish  reasoncrs  and  disptitcrs,  shall  have  either  part 
or  portion,  till  they  lay  down  those  gigantic  humours,  and  become  (as 
our  Saviour  Christ,  who  is  that  unerring  Truth,  has  prescribed),  like 
little  children. 

H.  More,  The  Grand  Mystery  of  Gcdliness,  b.  viii.  c.  15. 

Yet  such  is  now  the  duke's  condition, 

That  he  misconstrues  all  that  you  have  done  ; 

The  duke  is  humourous. 

Shakespeare,  As  you  like  it,  Act  i.  Sc.  2. 

The  people  thereof  [Ephraim]  were  active,  valiant,  ambitious  of 
honour;  but  withal  hasty,  humourous,  hard  to  be  pleased;  forward 
enough  to  fight  with  their  foes,  and  too  forward  to  fall  out  with  their 
friends. 

Fuller,  A  Pisgah  Sight  of  Palestine,  b.  ii.  c.  9. 

Or  it  may  be  (wl^at  is  little  better  than  that),  instead  of  the  living 
righteousness  of  Christ,  lie  will  magnify  himself  in  some  humourous 
pieces  of  holiness  of  his  own. 

H.  More,  The  Grand  Mystery  of  Godliness,  b.  viii.  c.  14. 

The  seamen  arc  a  nation  by  themselves,  a  humourous  and  fantastic 
people. 

Clarendon,  The  History  of  the  Great  Rebellion. 

Wretched  men,  that  shake  oil'  the  true  comely  habit  of  religion,  to 
bespeak  them  a  new-fashioned  suit  of  profession  at  an  humourist's 
shop  ! 

Adams,  The  DrviVs  Banquet,  p   52. 


IDIOT.  99 


I. 

IDIOT.  A  word  with  a  very  interesting  and  instruc 
tive  history,  which,  however,  is  only  fully  intelligible 
by  a  reference  to  the  Greek.  The  ISibrrg  or  '  idiot'  is 
first  the  private  man  as  distinguished  from  the  man 
sustaining  a  public  office;  then,  inasmuch  as  public  life 
was  considered  an  absolutely  necessary  condition  of 
man's  highest  education,  the  untaught  or  mentally  un 
developed,  as  distinguished  from  the  educated ;  and 
only  after  it  had  run  through  these  courses  did  '  idiot' 
come  to  signify  what  /Wir^c  never  did,  the  man  whose 
mental  powers  are  not  merely  unexercised  but  defi 
cient,  as  distinguished  from  him  in  full  possession  of 
them.  This  is  the  only  employment  to  which  we  now 
put  the  word ;  but  examples  of  its  earlier  and  more 
Greek  uses  are  frequent  in  Jeremy  Taylor  and  others. 

And  here,  again,  their  allegation  out  of  Gregory  the  First  and 
Damascene,  That  images  be  the  laymen's  hooks,  and  that  pictures 
are  the  Scripture  of  idiots  and  simple  persons,  is  worthy  to  he  con 
sidered. 

Homilies ;  Sermon  against  Peril  of  Idolatry. 

It  is  clear,  hy  Bellarmine's  confession,  that  S.  Austin  affirmed  that 
the  plain  places  of  Scripture  are  sufficient  to  all  laics,  and  all  idiots  or 
private  persons. 

J.  Taylor,  A  Dissuasive  from  Popery,  part  ii.  b.  i.  §  1. 

Christ  was  received  of  idiots,  of  the  vulgar  people,  and  of  the  sim 
pler  sort,  while  He  was  rejected,  despised,  and  persecuted  even  to 
death  by  the  high  priests,  lawyers,  scribes,  doctors,  and  rabbies. 

Blount,  Philostrntufi.  p.  237. 


100  IMP — IMPOTENT. 

IMP.  Employed  in  nobler  senses  formerly  than 
now.  '  To  imp'  is  properly  to  engraft,  and  an  '  imp' 
a  scion  or  engrafted  shoot ;  and,  even  as  we  now  speak 
of  the  '  scions'  of  a  noble  house,  so  there  was  in  earlier 
English  the  same  natural  transfer  of  '  imps'  from  plants 
to  persons. 

Of  fehlc  trees  there  comen  wretched  impes. 

The  Monkes  Prologue. 

The  sudden  taking  away  of  those  most  goodly  and  virtuous  young 
imps,  the  Duke  of  Suffolk  and  his  brother,  by  the  sweating  sickness, 
was  it  not  also  a  manifest  token  of  God's  heavy  displeasure  toward 

us? 

Becon,  A  Comfortable  Epistle. 

The  king  returned  into  England  with  victory  and  triumph ;  the 
king  preferred  there  eighty  noble  imps  to  the  order  of  knighthood. 

Stow,  Annals,  1592,  p.  385. 


IMPOTENT,  |  The  inner  connection  between  weak- 

IMPOTENCE.  j  ness  and  violence  is  finely  declared  in 

Latin  in  the  fact  that  '  impotens'  implies  both ;  so 

once  did  '  impotent'  in  English,  though  it  now  retains 

only  the  meaning  of  weak. 

An  impotent  lover 

Of  women  for  a  flash ;  but  his  fires  quenched, 
Hating  as  deadly. 

Massinger,  The  Unnatural  Combat,  Act  iii.  Sc.  2. 

The  Lady  Davey,  ever  impotent  in  her  passions,  was  even  distracted 
with  anger,  that  she  was  crossed  in  her  will. 

Hocket,  The  Life  of  Archbishop  Williams,  part  i.  p.  194. 

The  truth  is,  that  in  this  battle  and  whole  business  the  Britons 
never  more  plainly  manifested  themselves  to  be  right  barbarous  ;  such 


IMPOTENT — INDIFFERENT.  101 

confusion,  such  impotence,  as  seemed  likest  not  to  a  war,  but  to  the 
wild  hurry  of  a  distracted  woman,  with  as  mad  a  crew  at  her  heels. 

Milton,  The  History  of  England,  b.  ii. 

If  a  great  personage  undertakes  an  action  passionately  and  upon 
great  interest,  let  him  manage  it  indiscreetly,  let  the  whole  design  be 
unjust,  let  it  be  acted  with  all  the  malice  and  impotency  in  the  world, 
he  shall  have  enough  to  flatter  him,  but  not  enough  to  reprove  him. 

J.  Taylor,  Holy  Living,  c.  2.  §  6. 

INCENSE.  Now  to  kindle  anger  only  ;  but  once  to 
kindle  or  inflame  any  passion,  good  or  bad,  in  the 
breast.  Anger,  as  the  strongest  passion,  finally  ap 
propriated  the  word,  as  in  Greek  it  made  dujxfc  and 
op7»j  its  own. 

He  [Asdrubal]  it  was,  that  when  his  men  were  weary  and  drew 
back,  incensed  [accendit]  them  again,  one  while  by  fair  words  and  en 
treaty,  another  while  by  sharp  checks  and  rebukes. 

Holland,  Livy,  p.  665. 

Prince  Edward  struck  his  breast  and  swore,  that  though  all  his 
friends  forsook  him,  yet  he  would  enter  Ptolemais,  though  only  with 
Fowin,  his  horsekeeper.  By  which  speech  he  incensed  the  English  to 

go  on  with  him. 

Fuller,  The  Holy  War,  b.  iv.  c.  28. 

INCIVILITY.    See  <  CIVIL,'  '  CIVILITY.' 

By  this  means  infinite  numbers  of  souls  may  be  brought  from  their 
idolatry,  bloody  sacrifices,  ignorance,  and  incivility,  to  the  worshipping 

of  the  true  God. 

Sir  W.  Raleigh,  Of  the  Voyage  for  Guiana. 

INDIFFERENT,  "j  It  is  a  striking  testimony  of  the  low 
INDIFFERENCE,     >  general   average   which   we   have 

INDIFFERENTLY.  J   Come   to   assume    common    to   most 


102  INDIFFERENT — INDOLENCE. 

tilings,  that  a  thing  which  docs  not  differ  from  others, 
is  thereby  qualified  as  poor ;  a  sentence  of  deprecia 
tion  is  pronounced  upon  it  when  it  is  declared  to  be 
'  indifferent.'  When  in  Greek  oVx^'psjv  means  '  praes- 
tare,'  and  TO.  hacpipwra.  '  praestantiora,'  we  have  exact 
ly  the  same  feeling  embodying  itself  at  the  other  end. 
But  this  use  of  these  words  is  modern.  c  Indifferent' 
was  impartial  once,  not  making"  differences,  where 
none  really  were. 

God  recoiveth  the  learned  and  unlearned,  and  casteth  away  none, 
but  is  indifferent  unto  all. 

Homilies ;  Exhortation  to  the  Reading  of  Holy  Scripture. 

If  overseer  of  the  poor,  he  [the  good  parishioner]  is  careful  the 
rates  be  made  indifferent,  whose  inequality  oftentimes  is  more  burden 
some  than  the  sum. 

Fuller,  The  Holy  State,  b.  ii.  c.  11. 

Requesting  that  they  might  speak  before  the  senate,  and  be  heard 

with  indifference. 

Holland,  Livy,  p.  1214. 

That  they  may  truly  and  indifferently  minister  justice. 

The  Book  of  Common  Prayer. 


INDOLENCE.  '  Indolentia'  was  a  word  first  invented 
by  Cicero,  when  he  was  obliged  to  find  some  equiva 
lent  for  the  airadgia  of  certain  Greek  schools.  That  it 
was  not  counted  one  of  his  happiest  coinages  we  may 
conclude  from  the  seldom  use  of  it  by  any  other  au 
thors  but  himself,  as  also  from  the  fact  that  Seneca  a 
little  later  proposed  i  impatientia'  as  the  Latin  equiv 
alent  for  diecL&eta,  implying  that  none  such  had  hitherto 


INDOLENCE — INGENIOUS.  103 

been  found.  The  word  lias  taken  firmer  root  in  Eng 
lish  than  it  ever  did  in  Latin  ;  at  the  same  time  it  has 
lost  the  accuracy  of  use  which  it  had  in  the  philo 
sophical  schools,  where  it  signified  a  state  of  freedom 
from  passion  and  pain,  as  it  also  did  among  our  own 
writers  of  the  Caroline  period,  and  even  later;  and 
means  now  a  condition  of  languid  non-exertion. 

Now,  to  begin  with  fortitude,  they  say  it  is  the  mean  between  coward 
ice  and  rush  audacity,  of  which  twain  the  one  is  a  defect,  the  other  an 
excess  of  the  ireful  passion ;  liberality  between  niggardise  and  prodi 
gality,  clemency  and  mildness  between  senseless  indolence  and  cruelty. 

Holland,  Plutarch's,  Morals,  p.  69. 

Now  though  Christ  were  far  from  both,  yet  He  came  nearer  to  an 
excess  of  passion  than  to  an  indolency,  to  a  senselessness,  to  a  priva 
tion  of  natural  affections.  Inordinateness  of  affections  may  some 
times  make  some  men  like  some  beasts ;  but  indolency,  absence,  emp 
tiness,  privation  of  affections,  makes  any  man,  at  all  times,  like  stones, 

like  dirt. 

Donne,  Simons,  1640,  p.  156. 

Indolence  or  indolency,  a  being  insensible  to  pain  or  grief. 

Phillips,  The  New  World  of  Words. 


INGENIOUS,      ^  We  are  now  pretty  well  agreed  in 
INGENUOUS,        I  respect  of  the  use  of  these  words ; 
INGENUITY,         [but  there  was  a  time  when  the  ut- 
IXGENUOUSNESS.  j  termost  confusion  reigned  amongst 
them.     Thus,  in  the  first  and  second  quotations  be 
low,  '  ingenious'  is  used  where  we  should  now  use, 
and  where  oftentimes  the  writers  of  that  time  would 
have  used,  '  ingenuous,'  and  the  converse  in  the  third  ; 
while  in  like  manner  '  ingenuity'  in  each  of  the  three 


104  INFENIOUS. 

quotations  which  follow  stands  for  our  present  '  in 
genuousness/  and  '  ingenuousness'  in  the  last  for  '  in 
genuity.'  In  respect  of  '  ingenious'  and  '  ingenuous,' 
the  arrangement  at  which  we  have  now  arrived  re 
garding  their  several  meanings  —  namely,  that  the 
first  indicates  mental,  the  second  moral  qualities  —  is 
good  ;  '  ingenious'  being  from  '  ingenium,'  and  '  ingen 
uous'  from  '  ingenuus.'  But  '  ingenuity,'  being  from 
6  ingenuous,'  should  have  kept  the  meaning,  which  it- 
has  now  quite  let  go,  of  innate  nobleness  of  disposi 
tion  ;  while  '  ingeniousness,'  against  which  there  could 
have  been  no  objection  to  which  '  ingenuousness'  is 
not  equally  exposed,  might  have  expressed  what  '  in 
genuity'  does  now. 

He  is  neither  wise  nor  faithful,  but  a  flatterer,  that  denies  his  spirit 
ingenious  freedom. 

Hacket,  The  Life  of  Archbishop  Williams,  part  i.  p.  150. 

An  ingenious  person  will  rather  wear  a  plain  garment  of  his  own 
than  a  rich  livery,  the  mark  of  servitude. 

Bates,  Spiritual  Perfection ;  Preface. 

Since  heaven  is  so  glorious  a  state,  and  so  certainly  designed  for 
us,  if  we  please,  let  us  spend  all  that  we  have,  all  our  passions  and 
affections,  all  our  study  and  industry,  all  our  desires  and  stratagems, 
all  our  witty  and  ingenuous  faculties,  towards  the  arriving  thither. 

J.  Taylor,  Holy  Dying,  c.  2,  §  4. 

Christian  simplicity  teaches  openness  and  ingenuity  in  contracts 

and  matters  of  buying  and  selling. 

Id.,  Sermon  24,  part  ii. 

It  is  the  part  of  ingenuity  to  acknowledge  by  whom  a  man  hath 

profited. 

Oley,  Preface  to  Dr.  Jackson's  Works,  vol.  i.  p.  25. 


INGKNIOUS — INSOLENT.  105 

It  [gratitude]  is  such  a  debt  as  is  left  to  every  man's  ingenuity  (in 
respect  of  any  legal  coaction^  whether  he  will  pay  it  or  no. 

South,  Sermons,  vol.  i.  p.  410. 

By  his  ingenuousness  he  [the  good  handicrafts-man]  leaves  his  art 

better  than  he  found  it. 

Fuller,  The  Holy  State,  b.  ii.  c.  19. 


INSOLENT,  1  The  i  insolent'  is  properly  no  more 
INSOLENCE,  j  than  the  unusual.  This,  as  the  viola 
tion  of  the  fixed  law  and  order  of  society,  is  commonly 
offensive,  even  as  it  indicates  a  mind  willing  to  offend  ; 
and  thus  '  insolent'  has  acquired  its  present  meaning. 
But  for  the  poet,  the  fact  that  he  is  forsaking  the 
beaten  track,  that  he  can  say — 

"  peragro  loca,  nullius  ante 
Trita  jugo"  — 

in  this  way  to  be  '  insolent'  or  original,  as  we  should 
now  say,  may  be  his  highest  praise.  The  epithet  '  fu 
rious'  joined  to  '  insolence'  in  the  second  quotation  is 
to  be  explained  of  that  '  fine  madness'  which  Spenser 
as  a  Platonist  esteemed  a  necessary  condition  of  the 
poet. 

For  ditty  and  amorous  ode  I  find  Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  vein  most 
lofty,  insolent,  and  passionate. 

Puttenham,  The  Art  of  English  Poesy,  b.  i.  c.  31. 

Her  great  excellence 

Lifts  me  above  the  measure  of  my  might, 
That  being  filled  with  furious  insolence 
I  feel  myself  like  one  yrapt  in  spright. 

Spenser,  Colin  Clout 's  come  home  again, 

5* 


106  INSTITUTE — JACOBIN. 

INSTITUTE,  ^  These  all  had  once  in  English  mcan- 

INSTITUTEU,    >  ings  coextensive  with   those  of  the 

INSTITUTION.  J  Latin   words   which    they   represent. 

We  now  inform,  instruct  (the  images  are  nearly  the 

same),  but  we  do  not  '  institute,'  children  any  more. 

A  painful  schoolmaster,  that  hath  in  hand 
To  institute  the  flower  of  all  a  land, 
Gives  longest  lessons  unto  those,  where  Heaven 
The  ablest  wits  and  aptest  wills  hath  given. 

Sylvester,  Du  Bartas ;  Seventh  Day  of  the  First  Week. 

Neither  did  he  this  for  want  of  better  instructions,  having  had  the 
learnedest  and  wisest  man  reputed  of  all  Britain,  the  instltuter  of  his 

youth. 

Milton,  The  History  of  England,  b.  iii. 

A  Short  Catechism  for  the  institution  of  young  persons  in  the  Chris 
tian  Religion. 

Title  of  a  Treatise  by  Jeremy  Taylor. 


J. 

JACOBIN.  The  great  French  Revolution  has  stamped 
itself  too  deeply  and  terribly  upon  the  mind  of  Europe 
for  '  Jacobin1  ever  again  to  have  any  other  meaning 
than  that  which  the  famous  Club,  assembling  in  the 
hall  of  the  Jacobin  convent,  has  given  it ;  but  it  needs 
hardly  to  say  that  a  fc  Jacobin'  was  once  a  Dominican 
friar,  though  this  name  did  not  extend  beyond  France. 

Now  am  I  young  and  stout  and  bold, 
Now  am  I  Robert,  now  Robin, 
Now  frcro  Alinour,  now  Jacobin. 

Chaucer,  The  Romaunt  of  the  Rose,  6339. 


JACOBIN — KNAVE.  107 

Agent  for  England,  send  thy  mistress  word 
What  this  detested  Jacobin  hath  done. 

Marlowe,  The  Massacre  at  Paris,  Act  iii.  Sc.  4. 


K. 

KINDLY.  Nothing  ethical  was  connoted  in  '  kindly' 
once  ;  it  was  simply  the  adjective  of  <  kind.'  But  it 
is  God's  ordinance  that  '  kind'  should  be  '  kindly,'  in 
our  modern  sense  of  the  word  as  well ;  and  thus  the 
word  has  attained  this  meaning. 

This  Joon  in  the  Gospel  witnesseth  that  the  kyndeli  sone  of  God 

is  maad  man. 

Wiclif,  Prologe  of  John. 

Forasmuch  as  his  mind  gave  him,  that,  his  nephews  living,  men 
would  not  reckon  that  he  could  have  right  to  the  realm,  he  thought 
therefore  without  delay  to  rid  them,  as  though  the  killing  of  his  kins 
men  could  amend  his  cause,  and  make  him  a  kindly  king. 

Sir  T.  More,  The  History  of  King  Richard  III. 

The  royal  eagle  is  called  in  Greek  Gnesios,  as  one  would  say  true 
and  kindly,  as  descended  from  the  gentle  and  right  aery  of  eagles. 

Holland,  Pliny,  vol  i.  p.  272. 

Whatsoever  as  the  Son  of  God  He  may  do,  it  is  kindly  for  Him  as 
the  Son  of  Man  to  save  the  sons  of  men. 

Andrews,  Sermons,  vol.  iv.  p.  253. 


KNAVE.  How  many  serving-lads  must  have  been 
unfaithful  and  dishonest  before  '  knave,'  which  meant 
at  first  no  more  than  boy,  acquired  the  meaning  which 


108  KNAVE — LACE. 

it  has  now !     Note  the  same  history  in  the  German 
4  Bube,'  '  Dime,'  *  Schalk.' 

If  it  is  a  knave  child,  sle  ye  him;  if  it  is  a  womman,  kepe  ye. 

Exodus  i.  16.  Wiclif. 

The  time  is  come  ;  a  knave  childe  she  bare. 

Chaucer,  Tfie  Man  of  Lawes  Tale. 

0  murderous  slumber, 
Lay'st  thou  thy  leaden  mace  upon  my  boy, 
That  plays  thee  music?  gentle  knave,  good  night. 

Shakespeare,  Julius  Ccesar,  Act.  iv.  Sc.  3. 

KNUCKLE.  The  German  'Knochel'  is  any  joint 
whatsoever  ;  nor  was  our  '  knuckle'  limited  formerly, 
as  now  it  well  nigh  exclusively  is,  at  least  in  regard 
of  the  human  body,  to  certain  smaller  joints  of  the 
hand. 

Thou,  Nilus,  wert  assigned  to  stay  her  pains  and  travels  past, 
To  which  as  soon  as  lo  came  with  much  ado,  at  last 
With  weary  knuckles  on  thy  brim  she  kneeled  sadly  down. 

Golding,  Ovid's  Metamorphosis,  b.  i. 
But  when 

"  his  scornful  muse  could  ne'er  abide 

With  tragic  shoes  her  ancles  for  to  hide"  — 

the  pace  of  the  verse  told  me  that  her  maukin  knuckles  were  never 

shapen  to  that  royal  buskin. 

Milton,  Apology  for  Smectymnuus,  p.  186. 


L. 

LACE.    That  which  now  commonly  bears  this  name 
has  it  011  the  score  of  its  curiously-woven  th reads ; 


LACE      LANDSCAPE.  109 

but  '  lace,'  probably  identical  with  the  Latin  ;  lacque- 
us,'  tliough  it  has  not  reached  us  through  the  Latin, 
being  the  same  word,  only  differently  spelt,  as  '  latch,' 
is  mostly  used  by  our  earlier  writers  in  the  more  prop 
er  sense  of  a  snare. 

And  in  my  mind  I  measure  pace  by  pace, 
To  seek  the  place  where  I  myself  had  lost, 
That  day  that  I  was  tangled  in  the  lace 
In  seeming  slack,  that  knitteth  ever  most. 

Surrey,  The  Restless  State  of  a  Lover. 

Yet  if  the  polype  can  get  and  entangle  him  [the  lobster]  once  within 

his  long  laces,  he  dies  for  it. 

Holland,  Plutarch's  Morals,  p.  973. 

LANDSCAPE.  The  second  syllable  in  '  landscape'  or 
*  lands&i//  is  only  a  solitary  example  of  an  earlier 
form  of  the  same  termination  which  we  meet  in  '  friend- 
shipj  '  lords/tip,'  '  fellows/4 1/?,'  and  the  like.  As  these 
mean  the  manner  or  fashion  of  a  friend,  of  a  lord, 
and  so  on,  so  4  landscape'  the  manner  or  fashion  of 
the  land ;  and  in  our  earlier  English  this  rather  as 
the  pictured  or  otherwise  imitated  model,  than  in  its 
very  self.  As  this  imitation  would  be  necessarily  in 
small,  the  word  acquired  the  secondary  meaning  of  a 
compendium  or  multum  in  parvo  ;  cf.  Skinner,  Etymo- 
logicon,  s.  v.  Landskip :  Tabula  chorographica,  pri- 
mario  autem  terra,  provincia,  seu  topographica  tfxiaypa- 
(p/a. 

The  sins  of  other  women  show  in  landslip,  far  off  and  full  of  shad 
ow  ;  hers  [a  harlot's]  in  statue,  near  hand  and  bigger  in  the  life. 

Sir  Thomas  Overbury,  Characters. 


110  LANDSCAPE — LEWD. 

London,  as  YOU  know,  is  our  'EXX<W0s  'EXXaj,  our  England  of  Eng 
land,  and  our  landslip  and  representation  of  the  whole  island. 

Hacket,  The  Life  of  Archbishop  Williams,  part  ii.  p.  59. 

That  detestable  traitor,  that  prodigy  of  nature,  that  opprobrium  of 
mankind,  that  landscape  of  iniquity,  that  sink  of  sin,  and  that  compen 
dium  of  baseness,  who  now  calls  himself  our  Protector. 

An  Address  sent  by  the  Anabaptists  to  the  King,  1658,  in 
Clarendon,  The  History  of  'the  Great  Rebellion,  b.  xv. 


LATCH.  Few  things  now  are  '  latched'  or  caught 
except  a  door  or  casement ;  but  the  word,  being  the 
same  as  '  to  lace,'  was  once  of  much  wider  use. 

Those  that  remained  threw  darts  at  our  men,  and  latchtng  our  darts, 

sent  them  again  at  us. 

Golding,  Caesar,  p.  60. 

Peahens  are  wont  to  lay  by  night,  and  that  from  an  high  place 
where  they  perch  ;  and  then,  unless  there  be  good  heed  taken  that  the 
eggs  be  latched  in  some  soft  bed  underneath,  they  are  soon  broken. 

Holland,  Pliny,  vol.  i.  p.  301. 

LEVY.  Troops  are  now  raised,  or  '  levied.'  indiffer 
ently  ;  but  a  siege  is  only  raised,  and  not  '  levied/  as 
it,  too,  once  might  have  been. 

Euphranor  having  levied  the  siege  from  this  one  city,  forthwith  led 

his  army  to  Demetrias. 

Holland,  Liry,  p.  1178. 

LEWD,       )  There  are  three  distinct  stages  in  the 

LEWDNESS.  j  meaning  of  the  word  '  lewd;'  of  these 

it  has  entirely  overlived  two,  and  survives  only  in  the 

third,  namely,  in  that  of  wanton  or  lascivious.     With- 


LEWD.  Ill 

out  discussing  here  its  etymology  or  its  exact  relation 
to  '  lay,'  it  is  sufficient  to  observe,  that,  as  '  lay,'  it 
was  often  used  in  the  sense  of  ignorant,  or  rather  un 
learned.  Next,  according  to  the  proud  saying  of  the 
Pharisees,  "  This  people  who  knoweth  not  the  law  are 
cursed"  (John,  vii.  49),  and  on  the  assumption,  which 
would  have  its  truth,  that  those  untaught  in  the  doc 
trines,  would  be  unexercised  in  the  practices,  of  Chris 
tianity,  it  came  to  signify  vicious,  though  without 
designating  one  vice  more  than  others.  While  in  its 
present  and  third  stage,  it  has,  like,  so  many  other 
words,  retired  from  this  general  designation  of  all 
vices,  to  express  one  of  the  more  frequent,  alone. 

Archa  Dei  in  the  olde  law  Levytes  it  kepte ; 

Had  never  lewed  men  leve  to  leggen  honde  on  that  cheste. 

Piers  Ploughman,  7668. 

For  as  moche  as  the  curatis  ben  often  so  lewed,  that  thei  under- 
stonden  not  bookis  of  Latyn  for  to  teche  the  peple,  it  is  spedful  not 
only  to  the  lewed  peple,  but  also  to  the  lewed  curatis,  to  have  bookis  in 

Englisch  of  needful  loore  to  the  lewed  peple. 

Wycliffe  Mss.,  p.  5. 

Of  sondry  doutes  thus  they  jangle  and  trcte, 
As  lewed  people  demen  comunly 
Of  thinges  that  ben  made  more  subtilly 
Than  they  can  in  hir  lewednesse  comprehend. 

Chaucer,  The  Squieres  Tale. 

Neither  was  it  Christ's  intention  that  there  should  be  any  thing  in 
it  [the  Lord's  Prayer]  dark  or  far  from  our  capacity,  specially  since 
it  belongeth  equally  to  all,  and  is  as  necessary  for  the  lewd  as  the 

learned. 

A  Short  Catechism,  1553. 


112  LEWD — LITIGIOUS. 

If  it  were  a  matter  of  wrong  or  wicked  lewdness  [/fadcotipyityia],  O 
ye  Jews,  reason  would  that  I  should  bear  with  you. 

Acts  xviii.  14.  Authorized  Version. 

LIBERTINE.  A  striking  evidence  of  the  extreme 
likelihood  that  he  who  has  no  restraints  on  his  belief 
will  ere  long  have  none  upon  his  life,  is  given  by  this 
word  'libertine.'  Applied  at  first  to  certain  heretical 
sects,  and  intended  to  mark  the  licentious  liberty  of 
their  creed,  '  libertine'  soon  let  go  altogether  its  re 
lation  to  what  a  man  believed,  and  acquired  the  sense 
which  it  now  has,  a  '  libertine'  being  one  who  has  re 
leased  himself  from  all  moral  restraints,  and  especial 
ly  in  his  relations  with  the  other  sex. 

That  the  Scriptures  do  not  contain  in  them  all  things  necessary  to 
salvation,  is  the  fountain  of  many  great  and  capital  errors  ;  I  instance 
in  the  whole  doctrine  of  the  libertines,  fumilists,  quakers,  and  other 
enthusiasts,  which  issue  from  this  corrupted  fountain. 

J.  Taylor,  A  Dissuasive  from  Popery,  part  ii.  b.  1.  §  2. 

It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  the  said  libertine  doctrines  do  more  con 
tradict  the  doctrine  of  the  Gospel,  even  Christianity  itself,  than  the 
doctrines  of  the  Papists  about  the  same  subjects  do. 

Baxter,  Catholic  Theology,  part  iii.  p.  289. 

It  is  too  probable  that  our  modern  libertines,  deists,  and  atheists, 
took  occasion  from  the  scandalous  contentions  of  Christians  about 
many  things,  to  disbelieve  all. 

A  Discourse  of  Logomachies,  1711. 

LITIGIOUS.  This  word  has  changed  from  an  object 
ive  to  a  subjective  sense.  Things  were  '  litigious' 
once,  which  offered  matter  of  litigation ;  persons  are 


LITIGIOUS — LIVELY.  113 

'  litigious'  now,  who  are  prone  to  litigation.  Both 
meanings  are  to  be  found  in  the  Latin  '  litigiosus,' 
though  predominantly  that  which  we  have  now  made 
the  sole  meaning. 

Dolopia  he  hath  subdued  by  force  of  arms,  and  could  not  abide  to 
hear  that  the  determination  of  certain  provinces,  which  were  debatable 
and  litigious,  should  be  referred  to  the  award  of  the  people  of  Rome. 

Holland,  Livy,  p.  1 1 1 1 . 

Of  the  articles  gainsaid  by  a  great  outcry,  three  and  no  more  did 
seem  to  be  litigious. 

Hacket,  The  Life  of  Archbishop  Williams,  part  i.  p.  140. 

No  fences  parted  fields,  nor  marks  nor  bounds 
Distinguished  acres  of  litigious  grounds. 

Dryden,  Virgil's  Georgics,  b.  i.  193,  4. 

LIVELY.  This  was  once  nearly,  if  not  altogether, 
equipollent  with  '  living.'  We  have  here  the  explana 
tion  of  a  circumstance  which  many  probably  have 
noted  and  regretted  in  the  Authorized  Version  of  the 
New  Testament,  namely,  that  while  XWov  ^wv-ra  at 
1  Pet.  ii.  4  is  '  a  living  stone,'  X/4o»  £wvr5cr,  which  fol 
lows  immediately,  ver.  5,  is  only  '  lively  stones,'  '  liv 
ing'  being  thus  brought  down  to  4  lively,'  with  no  cor 
respondent  reduction  in  the  original  to  warrant  it. 
But  when  our  Version  was  made,  there  was  scarcely 
any  distinction  between  the  forces  of  the  words. 
Still  it  would  certainly  have  been  better  to  adhere  to 
one  word  or  the  other. 

Was  it  well  done  to  suffer  him,  imprisoned  in  chains,  lying  in  a, 
dark  dungeon,  to  draw  his  lively  breath  at  the  pleasure  of  the  hangman  ? 

Holland,  Livy,  p.  228. 


LIVELY — LUCID   INTERVAL. 

Had  I  but  seen  thy  picture  in  this  plight, 
It  would  have  madded  me ;  what  shall  I  do 
Now  I  behold  thy  lively  body  so  ? 

Shakespeare,  Titus  Andronicus,  Act  iii.  Sc.  1. 

That  his  dear  father  might  interment  have, 
See,  the  young  man  entered  a  lively  grave. 

Massinger,  The  Fatal  Dowry,  Act  ii.  Sc.  1. 

LIVERY.  It  need  hardly  be  observed  that  the  ex 
planation  of  '  livery'  which  Spenser  offers  (see  below), 
is  perfectly  correct ;  but  we  do  not  any  longer  recog 
nize  the  second  of  those  uses  of  the  word  there  men 
tioned  by  him.  It  is  no  longer  applied  to  the  ration, 
or  stated  portion  of  food,  delivered  at  stated  periods 
(the  (TiTOfxsVpiov  of  Luke.  xii.  42),  either  to  the  members 
of  a  household,  to  soldiers,  or  to  others. 

What  livery  is,  we  by  common  use  in  England  know  well  enough, 
namely,  that  is,  allowance  of  horse-meat,  as  to  keep  horses  at  livery, 
the  which  word,  I  guess,  is  derived  of  livering  or  delivering  forth  their 
nightly  food.  So  in  groat  houses  the  livery  is  said  to  be  served  up  for 
all  night.  And  livery  is  also  the  upper  weed  which  a  servant-man 
wen  re  th,  so  called,  as  I  suppose,  for  that  it  was  delivered  and  taken 
from  him  at  pleasure. 

Spenser,  View  of  the  State  of  Ireland. 

The  emperor's  officers  every  night  went  through  the  town  from 
house  to  house,  whereat  any  English  gentleman  did  repast  or  lodge, 
and  served  their  liveries  for  all  night;  first  the  officers  brought  into 
the  house  a  cast  of  fine  mam-bet,  and  of  silver  two  great  pots  with 
white  wine,  and  sugar,  to  the  weight  of  n  pound,  £c. 

Cavendish,  The  Li fe  of  Cardinal  HW.sry 

LUCID  INTERVAL.  We  limit  this  at  present  to  the 
brief  and  transient  season  when  a  mind,  ordinarily 


LUCID    INTERVAL — LUMBER.  115 

clouded  and  obscured  by  insanity,  recovers  for  a  while 
its  clearness.  It  had  no  such  limitation  formerly,  but 
was  of  very  wide  use,  as  the  four  passages  quoted  be 
low,  in  each  of  which  its  application  is  different,  will 
show. 

East  of  Edom  lay  the  land  of  Uz,  where  Job  dwelt,  so  renowned 
for  his  patience,  when  the  devil  heaped  afflictions  upon  him,  allowing 
him  no  lucid  intervals. 

Fuller,  A  Pisyah  Sight  of  Palestine,  b.  iv.  c.  2. 

Some  beams  of  wit  on  other  souls  may  fall, 
Strike  through,  and  make  a  lucid  interval: 
But  Shadwell's  genuine  night  admits  no  ray, 
His  rising  fogs  prevail  upon  the  day. 

Dryden,  Mac-Flecknoe. 

Such  is  the  nature  of  man,  that  it  requires  lucid  intervals;  and  the 
vigour  of  the  mind  would  flag  and  decay,  should  it  always  jog  on  at 
the  rate  of  a  common  enjoyment,  without  being  sometimes  quickened 
and  exalted  with  the  vicissitude  of  some  more  refined  pleasure. 

South,  Sermons,  1744,  vol.  viii.  p.  403. 

Thus  he  [Lord  Lyttleton]  continued,  giving  his  dying  benediction 
to  all  around  him.  On  Monday  morning  a  lucid  interval  gave  some 
small  hopes ;  but  these  vanished  in  the  evening. 

Narrative  of  the  Physician,  inserted  in  Johnson's 
Life  of  Lord  Lyttleton. 


LUMBER.  As  the  Lombards  were  the  bankers,  so 
also  they  were  the  pawnbrokers  of  the  middle  ages; 
indeed,  as  they  would  often  advance  money  upon 
pledges,  the  two  businesses  were  very  closely  joined, 
would  often  run  in,  to  one  another.  The  '  lumber' 
room  was  originally  the  Lombard  room,  or  room  where 


116  LUMBER — LURCH. 

the  Lombard  banker  and  broker  stored  his  pledges ; 
'  lumber'  then,  as  in  the  passage  from  Butler,  the 
pawns  and  pledges  themselves.  As  these  would  nat 
urally  often  accumulate  here  till  they  became  out  of 
date  and  unserviceable,  the  steps  are  easy  to  be  traced 
by  which  the  word  came  to  possess  its  present  mean- 


Lumber,  potius  lumbar,  as  to  put  one's  clothes  to  lumbar,  i.  e.  pig- 

nori  dare,  oppignorare. 

Skinner,  Etymologicon. 

And  by  an  action  falsely  laid  of  trover 
The  lumber  for  their  proper  goods  recover. 

Butler,  Upon  Critics. 

They  put  up  all  the  little  plate  they  had  in  the  lumber,  which  is 
pawning  it,  till  the  ships  came. 

Lady  Murray,  Lives  of  George  BaiUie  and  of  Lady  Griscll  Baillie. 


LURCH.  '  To  lurch'  is  seldom  used  now  except  of  a 
ship,  which  '  lurches'  when  it  makes  something  of  a 
headlong  dip  in  the  sea  ;  the  fact  that  by  so  doing  it, 
partially  at  least,  hides  itself,  and  so  4  lurks,'  for  '  lurk' 
and  '  lurch'  are  identical,  explains  this  employment 
of  the  word.  But  '  to  lurch,'  generally  as  an  active 
verb,  was  of  much  more  frequent  use  in  early  English  ; 
and  soon  superinduced  on  the  sense  of  lying  concealed 
that  of  lying  in  wait  with  the  view  of  intercepting 
and  seizing  a  prey.  After  a  while  this  superadded 
notion  of  intercepting  and  seizing  some  booty  quite 
thrust  out  that  of  lying  concealed ;  as  in  all  three  of 
the  quotations  which  follow. 


LURCH — LUXURY.  117 

It  is  not  an  auspicate  beginning  of  a,  feast,  nor  agreeable  to  amity 
and  good  fellowship,  to  snatch  or  lurch  one  from  another,  to  have 
many  hands  in  a  dish  at  once,  striving  a  vie  who  should  he  more  nim 
ble  with  his  fingers. 

Holland,  Plutarch's  Morals,  p.  679. 

I  speak  not  of  many  more  [discommodities  of  a  residence] ;  too  far 
off  from  great  cities,  which  may  hinder  business ;  or  too  near  them, 
which  lurcheth  all  provisions,  and  maketh  every  thing  dear. 

Bacon,  Essays,  45. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  war  [the  Crusades]  the  Pope's  temporal 
power  in  Italy  was  very  slender;  but  soon  after  he  grew  within  short 
time  without  all  measure,  and  did  lurch  a  castle  here,  gain  a  city  there 
from  the  emperor,  while  he  was  employed  in  Palestine. 

Fuller,  The  Holy  War,  b.  i.  c.  11. 

LUXURY,  I  '  Luxuria'  in  classical  Latin  was  very 
LUXURIOUS,  j  much  what  our  '  luxury'  is  now.  The 
meaning  which  in  our  earlier  English  was  its  only  one, 
namely,  indulgence  in  sins  of  the  flesh,  is  derived  from 
its  use  in  the  medieval  ethics,  where  it  never  means 
anything  else  but  this.  The  weakening  of  the  influ 
ence  of  the  scholastic  theology,  joined  to  a  nearer  ac 
quaintance  with  classical  Latinity,  has  probably  caused 
its  return  to  the  classical  meaning.  In  the  definition 
given  by  Phillips  (see  below),  the  word  may  be  no 
ticed  in  the  process  of  transition  from  its  old  meaning 
to  its  new,  the  old  still  remaining,  but  the  new  super 
induced  upon  it. 

O  foule  lust  of  luxurie,  to  thin  ende 
Not  only  that  thou  taintest  mannes  mind, 
But  veraily  thou  wolt  his  body  shende. 

Chaucer,  The  Man  of  Lawes  Tale. 


118  LUXURY — MAGNIFICENT. 

Luxury  and  lust  fasten  a  rust  and  foulness  on  the  mind,  that  it 
cannot  see  sin  in  its  odious  deformity,  nor  virtue  in  its  unattainable 

beauty. 

Bates,  Spiritual  Perfection,  c.  1. 

Luxury,  all  superfluity  and  excess  in  carnal  pleasures,  sumptuous 
fare  or  building;  sensuality,  riotousness,  profuseness. 

Phillips,  The  New  World  of  Words. 

She  knows  the  heat  of  a  luxurious  bed. 

Shakespeare,  Much  Ado  about  Nothing,  Act  iv.  Sc.  1. 

Again,  that  many  of  their  Popes  be  such  as  I  have  said,  naughty, 
wicked,  luxurious  men,  they  openly  confess. 

Jackson,  The  Eternal  Truth  of  Scriptures,  b.  ii.  c.  14. 


M. 

MAGNIFICENT,  )  Frequently  used  by  our  elder  wri- 
MAGNIFICENCE.  /  ters  where  we  should  employ  mu 
nificent  or  generous.  In  their  employment  of  the 
word,  as  well  as  in  ours,  lies  the  notion  of  cost  and 
large  outlay,  only  in  theirs  this  as  bestowed  by  men 
upon  others,  in  ours  on  themselves.  There  lay  behind 
both  uses  an  earlier  and  a  nobler  than  either,  as  is 
evident  from  my  first  quotation. 

Then  cometh  magnificence,  that  is  to  say  when  a  man  doth  and 
performeth  gret  werkes  of  goodnesse. 

Chaucer,  The  Persones  Tale. 

Every  amorous  person  bccometh  liberal  and  magnificent,  although 
he  had  been  aforetime  a  pinching  snudge;  in  such  sort  as  men  take 
more  pleasure  to  give  away  and  bestow  upon  those  whom  they  love, 
than  they  do  to  take  and  receive  of  others. 

Holland,  Plutarch's  Morals,  p.  1147. 


MAGNIFICENT — MAKE.  119 

Am  I  close-handed, 
Because  I  scatter  not  among  you  that 
I  must  not  call  my  own  ?  know,  you  court-leeches, 
A  prince  is  never  so  magnificent 
As  when  he's  sparing  to  enrich  a  few 
With  the  injuries  of  many. 

Massinger,  The  Emperor  of  the  East,  Act  ii.  Sc.  1. 

Bounty  and  magnificence  are  virtues  very  regal ;  but  a  prodigal 
king  is  nearer  a  tyrant  than  a  parsimonious. 

Bacon,  Essays,  Of  a  King. 


MAKE,  )  It  would  be  curious  to  determine  whether 
MAKER,  j  '  maker,'  as  equivalent  to  poet,  and  '  to 
make'  as  applied  to  the  exercise  of  the  poet's  art,  are 
words  of  genuine  home-growth,  or  mere  imitations  of 
the  Greek  wr^s  and  -rroisrv,  a  point  which  Sir  P.  Sid 
ney,  as  will  be  seen  below,  declines  to  determine. 
There  are  so  many  words  and  in  so  many  languages 
which  mark  men's  sense  that  invention,  and  in  a  cer 
tain  sense  creation,  is  the  essential  character  of  the 
poet,  such  as  the  Saxon  '  song-smith,'  the  French 
4  trouvere,'  '  troubadour,'  that  one  might  be  almost 
tempted  to  think  of  the  words  not  as  introduced  from 
without,  but  as  a  spontaneous  birth  of  our  own  tongue. 
At  the  same  time  it  must  be  owned  as  against  this  is 
the  fact,  that  the  words  are  not  found  in  any  book 
anterior  to  the  revival  of  the  study  of  the  Greek  lit 
erature  and  language  in  England  ;  and  Sir  J.  Harring 
ton  affirms  (Apology  of  Poetry,  p.  2),  though  in  this 
he  is  certainly  mistaken,  that  Puttenham  in  his  Art 


120  MAKE — MANURE. 

of  English  Poesy,  1589,  was  the  first  who  gave  '  make' 
and  '  maker'  this  meaning. 

The  God  of  shepherds,  Tityrus,  is  dead, 
Who  taught  me,  homely  as  I  can,  to  make. 

Spenser,  The  Shepherd's  Calendar,  June. 

The  old  famous  poet  Chaucer,  whom  for  his  excellency  and  won 
derful  skill  in  making,  his  scholar  Lidgate  (a  worthy  scholar  of  so 
excellent  a  master)  calleth  the  lode-star  of  our  language. 

E.  K.,  Epistle  Dedicatory  to  Spenser's  Shepherd's  Calendar. 

There  cannot  be  in  a  maker  a  fouler  fault  than  to  falsify  his  accent 
to  serve  his  cadence,  or  by  untrue  orthography  to  wrench  his  words 
to  help  his  rhyme. 

Puttenham,  The  Art  of  English  Poesy,  b.  ii.  c.  8. 

The  Greeks  named  the  poet  TTO^TJ??,  which  name,  as  the  most  ex 
cellent,  hath  gone  through  other  languages.  It  cometh  of  this  word 
noutv,  to  make ;  wherein  I  know  not  whether  by  luck  or  wisdom  we 
Englishmen  have  met  well  with  the  Greeks  in  calling  him  a  maker. 

Sir  P.  Sidney,  The  Defence  of  Poetry. 


MANURE.  This  is  the  same  word  as  '  manoeuvre,' 
to  work  with  the  hand ;  and  thus,  to  till  or  cultivate 
the  earth  ;  this  tillage  being  in  earlier  periods  of  so 
ciety  the  great  and  predominant  labor  of  the  hands. 
We  restrain  the  word  now  to  one  particular  branch 
of  this  cultivation,  but  our  ancestors  made  it  to  em 
brace  the  whole. 

It  [Japan]  is  mountainous  and  craggy,  full  of  rocks  and  stony 
places,  so  that  the  third  part  of  this  empire  is  not  inhabited  or  ma 
nured 

Memorials  of  Japan  (Hackluyt  Society),  p.  3. 

A  rare  and  excellent  wit  untaught  doth  bring  forth  many  good 


MANURE — MECHANICAL.  121 

and  evil  things  together;  as  a  fat  soil,  that  lieth  unmanured,  bringeth 

forth  both  herbs  and  weeds. 

North,  Plutarch's  Lives,  p.  185. 

Every  man's  hand  itching  to  throw  a  cudgel  at  him,  who,  like  a 
nut-tree,  must  be  manured  by  beating,  or  else  would  never  bear  fruit. 

Fuller,  The  Holy  War,  b.  ii.  c.  11. 


MEASLES.  This  has  only  been  by  later  use  restrained 
to  one  kind  of  spotted  sickness ;  but  '  meazel'  (it  is 
spelt  in  innumerable  ways)  was  once  leprosy,  or  more 
often  the  leper  himself,  and  the  disease,  '  meselry.' 

Forsothe  he  was  a  stronge  man  and  riche,  but  mesell. 

4  Kings  v.  1.  Wiclif. 

In  this  same  year  the  mysseles  thorow  oute  Cristendom  were  slaun- 
dered  that  thei  had  mad  covenaunt  with  Sarasenes  for  to  poison  all 

Christen  men. 

Capgrave,  Chronicle  of  England,  p.  186. 

He  [Pope  Deodatus]  kissed  a  mysel,  and  sodeynly  the  mysel  was 

whole. 

Id.,  Ib.,  p.  95. 


MECHANICAL.  This  now  simply  expresses  a  fact, 
and  is  altogether  untinged  with  passion  or  sentiment ; 
but  in  its  early  history  it  ran  exactly  parallel  to  the 
Greek  /Suvauox,  which,  expressing  first  the  sitting  by 
the  stove,  as  one  plying  a  handicraft  might  do,  came 
afterward,  in  obedience  to  certain  constant  tendencies 
of  language,  to  imply  the  man  ethically  illiberal. 

Base  and  mechanical  niggardise  they  [flatterers]  account  temperate 

frugality. 

Holland,  Plidarch's  Morals,  p.  93. 

6 


122  MECHANICAL — MEDITERRANEAN. 

Base  dunghill  villain,  and  mechanical. 

Shakespeare,  2  Henry  VI.  Act  i.  Sc.  3. 

It  was  never  a  good  world,  since  employment  was  counted  me- 

chanick,  and  idleness  gentility. 

"Whitlock,  Zootomia,  p.  30. 

MEDDLE.  This  had  once  no  such  offensive  meaning 
of  mixing  oneself  up  in  other  people's  business,  as 
now  it  has.  On  the  contrary,  Barrow  in  one  of  his 
sermons  draws  expressly  the  distinction  between 
1  meddling'  and  being  meddlesome,  and  only  condemns 
the  latter. 

In  the  drynke  that  she  mcddlid  to  you,  mynge  ye  double  to  her. 

Apoc.  xviii.  6.  Wiclif. 

How  is  it  that  thou,  being  a  Jew,  askest  drink  of  me,  which  am  a 
Samaritan?  For  the  Jews  meddle  not  [<iv  avy^p^vrai]  with  the  Sa 
maritans. 

John  iv.  9.  Cranmer. 

We  beseech  you,  brethren,  that  ye  study  to  be  quiet,  and  to  meddle 
with  your  own  business. 

1  T/tcss.  iv.  10,  11.  Tyndale. 

Tho  he,  that  had  well  y-conned  his  lere, 
Thus  medled  his  talk  with  many  a  tear. 

Spenser,  The  Shepherd's  Calendar,  May. 

MEDITERRANEAN.  Only  seas  are  '  mediterranean' 
now,  and  indeed  we  may  say,  only  one  Sea  ;  but  there 
is  no  reason  why  cities  and  countries  should  not  be 
characterized  as  '  mediterranean'  as  well.  We  have 
preferred,  however,  to  employ  '  inland.' 

An  old  man,  full  of  days,  and  living  still  in  your  mediterranean 

city,  Coventry. 

Henry  Holland,  Preface  to  Holland's  Cyropadia, 


MEDITERRANEAN — MELANCHOLY.  123 

It  [Arabia]  hath  store  of  cities  as  well  mediterranean  as  maritime. 

Holland,  Ammiamts. 


MEDLEY.  It  is  plain  from  the  frequent  use  of  the 
French  c  melee'  in  the  description  of  battles  that  we 
feel  the  want  of  a  parallel  English  word.  There 
have  even  been  attempts,  though  hardly  successful 
ones,  to  naturalize  '  melee,'  and  as  i  voice'  has  become 
in  English  i  volley,'  that  so  i  melee'  should  become 
'  melley.'  Perhaps,  as  Tennyson  has  sanctioned  these, 
employing  '  mellay'  in  his  Princess,  they  may  now  suc 
ceed.  But  there  would  have  been  no  need  of  this, 
nor  yet  of  borrowing  a  foreign  word,  if  '  medley'  had 
been  allowed  to  keep  this  more  passionate  use,  which 
once  it  possessed. 

The  consul  for  his  part  forslowed  not  to  come  to  hand-fight.  The 
medley  continued  above  three  hours,  and  the  hope  of  victory  hung  in 

equal  balance. 

Holland,  Livg,  p.  1119. 

MELANCHOLY.  This  has  now  ceased,  nearly  or  al 
together,  to  designate  a  particular  form  of  moody 
madness,  the  German  '  Tiefsinn,'  which  was  ascribed 
by  the  old  physicians  to  a  predominance  of  black  bile 
mingling  with  the  blood.  It  was  not,  it  is  true,  al 
ways  restrained  to  this  peculiar  form  of  mental  un- 
soundness;  thus,  Burton's  '  Anatomy  of  Melancholy1 
has  not  to  do  with  this  one  form  of  madness,  but  with 
all.  This,  however,  was  its  prevailing  use,  and  here 


124  MELANCHOLY — MERE. 

is  to  be  found  the  link  of  connection  between  its  pres 
ent  use,  as  a  deep  pensiveness  or  sadness,  and  its  past. 

That  property  of  melancholy,  whereby  men  become  to  be  delirous 
in  some  one  point,  their  judgment  standing  untouched  in  others. 

H.  More,  A  brief  Discourse  of  Enthusiasm ,  sect.  14. 

Luther's  conference  with  the  devil  might  be,  for  ought  I  know, 
nothing  but  a  melancholy  dream. 

Chillingworth,  The  Religion  of  Protestants,  Preface. 

Though  I  am  persuaded  that  none  but  the  devil  and  this  melan 
choly  miscreant  were  in  the  plot  [the  Duke  of  Buckingham's  murder], 
}-et  in  foro  Dei  many  were  guilty  of  this  blood,  that  rejoiced  it  was 

spilt. 

Hackct,  The  Life  of  Archbishop  Williams,  part  ii.  p.  80. 

Some  melancholy  men  have  believed  that  elephants  and  birds  and 
other  creatures  have  a  language  whereby  they  discourse  with  one  an 
other. 

Bishop  Reynolds,  The  Passions  and  Faculties  of 

the  Soul  of  Man,  c.  39. 


MERE,  1  There  is  a  good  note  on  these  words,  and 
MERELY,  j  on  the  changes  of  meaning  which  they 
have  undergone,  in  Craik's  English  of  Shakespeare, 
p.  80.  lie  there  says :  "  Merely  (from  the  Latin 
merus  and  mere)  means  purely,  only.  It  separates 
that  which  it  designates  and  qualifies  from  every  thing 
else.  But  in  so  doing  the  chief  or  most  emphatic 
reference  may  be  made  either  to  that  which  is  included, 
or  to  that  which  is  excluded.  In  modern  English  it 
is  always  to  the  latter.  In  Shakespeare's  day  the 
other  reference  was  more  common,  that,  namely,  to 
what  was  included." 


ME  RE -METAL.  125 

Our  wine  is  here  mingled  with  water  and  with  myrrh ;  there  [in 
the  life  to  come]  it  is  mere  and  unmixed. 

J.  Tavlor,  Tlie  Worthy  Communicant. 

The  great  winding-sheets,  that  bury  all  things  in  oblivion,  are  two, 
deluges  and  earthquakes.  As  for  conflagrations  and  great  droughts, 
they  do  not  merely  dispeople  and*  destroy.  Phaethon's  car  went  but 
a  day ;  and  the  three  years'  drought,  in  the  time  of  Elias,  was  but  par 
ticular,  and  left  people  alive. 

Bacon,  Essays,  58. 

Fve  on't !  O  fve  !  'tis  an  unweeded  garden, 

That  grows  to  seed ;  things  rank  and  gross  in  nature 

Possess  it  merely. 

Shakespeare,  Hamlet.  Act  i.  Sc.  2. 


MESS.  This  used  continually  to  be  applied  to  a 
quaternion,  or  group  of  four  persons  or  things.  Prob 
ably  in  the  distribution  of  food  to  large  numbers,  it 
was  found  most  convenient  to  arrange  them  in  fours, 
and  hence  this  application  of  the  word. 

Where  are  your  mess\  of  sons  to  back  yon  now  ? 

Shakespeare,  3  Henry  VI.  Act  i.  Sc.  4. 

There  lacks  a  fourth  thing  to  make  up  the  mess. 

Latimer,  Sermon  5. 

METAL.  The  Latin  (  metallum'  signified  a  mine  be 
fore  it  signified  the  metal  which  was  found  in  the 
mine  ;  and  Jeremy  Taylor  uses  '  metal'  in  this  sense 
of  mine.  I  am  not  certain  whether  this  may  not  be 
a  latinism  peculiar  to  him,  as  he  has  of  such  not  a 

*  A  recent  editor  of  Bacon,  I  need  hardly  say  not  the  most  recent, 
has  made  a  hopeless  confusion  by  changing  the  'and'  into  'but,'  evi 
dently  from  not  understanding  the  old  use  of  '  merely.' 

t  Edward,  George,  Richard,  and  Edmund. 


126  METAL — MINUTE. 

few ;  in  which  case  it  would  scarcely  have  a  right  to 
a  place  in  this  little  volume,  which  does  not  propose 
to  note  the  peculiarities  of  single  writers,  but  the 
general  course  of  the  language.  I,  however,  insert 
it,  counting  it  more  probable  that  my  limited  reading 
hinders  me  from  furnishing  an  example  of  this  use 
from  some  other  author,  than  that  such  does  not  some 
where  exist. 

It  was  impossible  to  live  without  our  king,  but  as  slaves  live,  that 
is,  such  who  are  civilly  dead,  and  persons  condemned  to  metals. 

J.  Taylor,  Ductor  Dubitantium,  Epistle  Dedicatory. 

METHODIST.  This  term  is  restricted  at  present  to 
the  followers  of  John  Wesley  ;  but  it  was  once  applied 
to  those  who  followed  a  certain  '  method'  in  philosoph 
ical  speculation,  or  in  the  ethical  treatment  of  them 
selves  or  others. 

The  finest  methodists,  according  to  Aristotle's  golden  rule  of  artifi 
cial  bounds,  condemn  geometrical  precepts  in  arithmetic,  or  arithmet 
ical  precepts  in  geometry,  as  irregular  and  abusive. 

G.  Harvey,  Pierce' s  Supererogation,  p.  117. 

All  of  us  have  some  or  other  tender  parts  of  our  souls,  which  we 
cannot  endure  should  be  ungcntly  touched ;  every  man  must  be  his 
own  methodist  to  find  them  out. 

Jackson,  Justifying  Faith,  b.  iv.  c.  5. 

MINUTE.  i  Minutes'  are  now  '  minute'  portions  of 
time ;  they  might  once  be  '  minute'  portions  of  any 
tiling.  i  Mite,'  as  the  quotation  from  Wiclif  plainly 


MINUTE — MISCREANT.  127 

shows,  is  contracted  from  '  minute,'  being  a  '  minute' 
portion  of  money. 

But  whanne  a  pore  widcwe  was  come,  sche  cast  two  mynutis,  that 

is  a  fcrthing. 

Mark  xii.  42.  Wiclif. 

Let  us,  with  the  poor  widow  of  the  Gospel,  at  least  give^  two 

minutes. 

Becon,  The  Nosegay,  Preface. 

And  now,  after  such  a  sublimity  of  malice,  I  will  not  instance  in 
the  sacrilegious  ruin  of  the  neighbouring  temples,  which  needs  must 
have  perished  in  the  flame.  These  are  but  minutes,  in  respect  of  the 
ruin  prepared  for  the  living  temples. 

J.  Taylor,  Sermon  on  the  Gunpowder  Treason. 

MISCREANT.  A  settled  conviction  that  to  believe 
wrongly  is  the  way  to  live  wrongly  has  caused  that 
in  all  languages  words,  which  originally  did  but  in 
dicate  the  first,  have  gradually  acquired  a  meaning 
of  the  second.  There  is  no  more  illustrious  example 
of  this  than  '  miscreant,'  which  now  charges  him  to 
whom  it  is  applied  not  with  religious  error,  but  with 
extreme  moral  depravity ;  while  yet,  according  to  its 
etymology,  it  did  but  mean  at  the  first  misbeliever, 
and  as  such  would  have  been  as  freely  applied  to  the 
morally  most  blameless  of  these  as  to  the  vilest  and 
the  worst.  In  the  quotation  from  Shakespeare,  York 
means  to  charge  the  Maid  of  Orleans,  as  a  dealer  in 
unlawful  charms,  with  apostasy  from  the  Christian 
faith,  according  to  the  low  and  unworthy  estimate  of 
her  character,  above  which  even  Shakespeare  himself 
has  not  risen. 


128  MISCREANT — MISER. 

We  are  not  therefore  ashamed  of  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  because  miscreants  in  scorn  have  upbraided  us  that  the  highest 

of  our  wisdom  is,  Believe. 

Hooker,  Ecclesiastical  Polity,  b.  v. 

Curse,  miscreant,  when  thou  comest  to  the  stake. 

Shakespeare,  1  Henry  VI.  Act  v.  Sc.  2. 

The  consort  and  the  principal  servants  of  Soliman  had  been  hon 
ourably  restored  without  ransom  ;  and  the  emperor's  generosity  to 
the  miscreant  was  interpreted  as  treason  to  the  Christian  cause. 

Gibbon,  The  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  c.  58. 


MISER,  "|  We  may  notice  a  curious  shifting  of 
MISERY,  >  parts  in  the  words  '  miser,'  '  misery,' 
MISERABLE.  J  '  miserable.'  There  was  a  time  when 
the  '  iniser'  was  the  wretched  man,  he  is  now  the  cov 
etous  ;  at  the  same  time  i  misery,'  which  is  now  wretch 
edness,  and  '  miserable,'  which  is  now  wretched,  were 
severally  covetousness  and  covetous.  They  have  in 
fact  exactly  reversed  their  uses.  Men  still  express 
by  some  words  of  this  group,  although  not  by  the  same, 
by  i  miser'  (and  'miserly'),  not  as  once  by  'misery' 
and  '  miserable,'  their  deep  moral  conviction  that  the 
avaricious  man  is  his  own  tormentor,  and  bears  his 
punishment  involved  in  his  sin.  I  may  mention  here 
that  a  passage,  too  long  to  quote,  in  Gascoigne's  Fruits 
of  War,  st.  72-74,  is  very  instructive  on  the  different 
uses  of  the  word  '  miser'  even  in  his  time,  and  on  the 
manner  in  which  it  was  even  then  hovering  between 
the  two  meanings. 

Because  thou  sayest,  That  I  am  rich  and  enriched  and  lack  noth- 


MISER — MODEL.  129 

ing;  and  knowest  not  that  thou  art  a  miser  [et  nescis  quia  tu  es  miser, 
Vulg.]  and  miserable  and  poor  and  blind  and  naked. 

Rev.  iii.  17.  Kheims. 

Vouchsafe  to  stay  your  steed  for  humble  miser's  sake. 

Spenser,  The  Fairy  Queen,  ii.  1,  8. 

He  [Perseus]  returned  again  to  his  old  humour  which  was  born 
and  bred  with  him,  and  that  was  avarice  and  misery. 

North,  Plutarch's  Lives,  p.  215. 

But  Brutus,  scorning  his  [Octavius  Caesar's]  misery  and  niggardli 
ness,  gave  unto  every  band  a  number  of  wethers  to  sacrifice,  and  fifty 
silver  drachmas  to  every  soldier. 

Id.,  76.  p.  830. 

If  avarice  be  thy  vice,  yet  make  it  not  thy  punishment ;  miserable 
men  commiserate  not  themselves ;  bowelless  unto  themselves,  and 

merciless  unto  their  own  bowels. 

Sir  T.  Browne,  Letter  to  a  Friend. 

The  liberal-hearted  man  is  by  the  opinion  of  the  prodigal,  miser 
able;  and  by  the  judgment  of  the  miserable,  lavish. 

Hooker,  Ecclesiastical  Polity,  b.  v.  c.  65. 

Miss.  Now  to  be  conscious  of  the  loss  of,  nearly 
answers  to  the  Latin  4  desiderare,'  but  once  to  do  with 
out,  to  dispense  with. 

But  as  'tis, 

We  cannot  miss  him  ;  he  does  make  our  fire, 
Fetch  in  our  wood,  and  serves  in  offices 

That  profit  us. 

Shakespeare,  The  Tempest,  Act  i.  Sc.  2. 

I  will  have  honest  valiant  souls  about  me : 
I  cannot  miss  thee. 

Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  The  Mad  Lover,  Act  ii. 

MODEL.  It  needs  hardly  to  be  observed  that 4  model* 
is  '  module/  or  <  modulus,'  a  diminutive  of  '  modus ;' 

6* 


130  MODEL — MOUNTEBANK. 

but  this  diminutive  sense  which  once  went  constantly 
with  the  word,  and  which  will  alone  explain  the  quo 
tations  which  follow,  when  it  lies  in  the  word  now, 
lies  in  it  only  by  accident. 

O  England,  model  to  thy  inward  greatness, 
Like  little  body  with  a  mighty  heart. 

Shakespeare,  Henry  V.,  Act  ii.  Chorus. 

And  nothing  can  we  call  our  own  but  death, 
And  that  small  model  of  the  barren  earth 
Which  serves  as  paste  and  cover  to  our  bones. 

Id  ,  Richard  If.,  Act  iii.  Sc.  2. 

If  Solomon's  Temple  were  compared  to  some  structures  and  fanes 
of  heathen  gods,  it  would  appear  as  St.  Gregory's  to  St.  Paul's  (the 
babe  by  the  mother's  side),  or  rather  this  David's  model  would  be  like 
David  himself  standing  by  Goliath,  so  gigantic  were  some  pagan 
fabrics  in  comparison  thereof. 

Fuller,  J.  Pisgah  Sight  of  Palestine,  b.  iii.  c.  3. 

MOUNTEBANK.  Now  any  antic  fool;  but  once  re 
strained  to  the  quack-doctor  who  at  fairs  and  such 
places  of  resort  having  mounted  on  a  bank  or  bench , 
from  thence  proclaimed  the  virtue  of  his  drugs :  "  a 
fellow  above  the  vulgar  more  by  three  planks  and  two 
empty  hogsheads  than  by  any  true  skill"  (Whitlock, 
Zootomia,  p.  436). 

Much  like  to  these  mount-bank  chirurgians,  who  for  to  have  the 
greater  practice  make  show  of  their  cunning  casts  and  operations  of 
their  art  in  public  theatres. 

Holland,  Plutarch's  Morals,  p.  111. 

Such  is  the  weakness  and  easy  credulity  of  men,  that  a  mountebank 
or  cunning  woman  is  preferred  before  an  able  physician. 

Whitlock,  Zootomia,  p.  437. 


MOUNTEBANK — NAMELY.  131 

Above  the  reach  of  antidotes,  the  power 
Of  the  famed  Pontic  mountebank  to  cure. 

Oldham,  Third  Satire  upon  the  Jesuits. 


MUTTON.  It  is  a  refinement  in  the  English  language, 
one  wanting  in  some  other  languages  which  count 
themselves  as  refined  or  more,  that  it  has  in  so  many 
cases  one  word  to  express  the  living  animal,  and 
another  its  flesh  prepared  for  food  ;  ox  and  beef,  calf 
and  veal,  deer  and  venison,  sheep  and  mutton.  In 
respect  of  this  last  pair  the  refinement  is  of  somewhat 
late  introduction.  At  one  time  they  were  mere  sy 
nonyms. 

Peucestas,  having  feasted  them  in  the  kingdom  of  Persia,  and  given 
every  soldier  a  mutton  to  sacrifice,  thought  he  had  won  great  favor  and 

credit  among  them. 

North,  Plutarch's  Lives,  p.  505. 

A  starved  mutton's  carcass  would  hotter  fit  their  palates. 

B.  Jonson,  The  Sad  Shepherd,  Act  i.  Sc.  2. 


N. 

NAMELY.  Now  only  designates  ;  but,  like  the  Ger 
man  '  namentlich,'  once  designated  as  first  and  chief, 
as  above  all. 

Sir  Richard  Ratclife  and  Sir  William  Catesby,  which,  longing  for 
no  more  partners  of  the  prince's  favour,  and  namely  not  for  him  [Sir 
James  Tyrell],  whose  pride  they  wist  would  bear  no  peer,  kept  him 
by  secret  drifts  out  of  all  secret  trust. 

Sir  T.  More,  The  History  of  King  Richard  III. 


132  NAMELY — NEPHEW. 

For  there  are  many  disobedient,  and  talkers  of  vanity,  and  deceiv 
ers  of  minds,  namely  [udXn™]  they  of  the  circumcision. 

Tit.  i.  10.  Tyndale. 

For  in  the  darkness  occasioned  by  the  opposition  of  the  earth  just 
in  the  mids  between  the  sun  and  the  moon,  there  was  nothing  for  him 
[Nicias]  to  fear,  and  namely  at  such  a  time,  when  there  was  cause  for 
him  to  have  stood  upon  his  feet,  and  served  valiantly  in  the  field. 

Holland,  Plutarch's  Morals,  p.  265. 


NATURALIST.  He  is  at  present  the  scientific  student 
of  nature  ;  but  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  cen 
turies  the  name  was  often  given  to  the  deist,  as  one 
who  denied  Revelation  and  any  but  a  religion  of  na 
ture.  "  Natural  religion  men"  such  were  sometimes 
called. 

But  that  he  [the  atheist]  might  not  be  shy  of  me,  I  have  conformed 
myself  as  near  his  own  garb  as  I  might,  without  partaking  of  his  folly 
or  wickedness ;  and  have  appeared  in  the  plain  shape  of  a  mere  natu 
ralist  myself,  that  I  might,  if  it  were  possible,  win  him  off  from  down 
right  atheism. 

H.  More,  An  Antidote  against  Atheism,  Preface,  p.  7. 

This  is  the  invention  of  Satan,  that  whereas  all  will  not  be  profane, 
nor  naturalists,  nor  epicures,  but  will  be  religious,  lo,  he  hath  a  bait 
for  every  fish,  and  can  insinuate  himself  as  well  into  religion  itself  as 

into  lusts  and  pleasures. 

Rogers,  Naaman  the  Syrian,  p.  115. 

Heathen  naturalists  hold  better  consort  with  the  primitive  Church 
concerning  the  nature  of  sin  original  than  the  Socinians. 

Jackson,  A  Treatise  of  Christ's  Everlasting  Priesthood,  b.  x.  c.  8.  §  4. 


NEPHEW.    Restrained  in  our  present  use  to  the  son 
of  a  brother  or  a  sister ;  but  formerly  of  much  laxer 


NEPHEW — NICE.  133 

use,  a  grandson,  or  even  a  remoter  lineal  descendant. 
4  Nephew'  in  fact  has  undergone  exactly  the  same 
change  of  meaning  that  '  ncpos'  in  Latin  underwent ; 
which  in  the  Augustan  age  meaning  grandson,  in  the 
post-Augustan  acquired  the  signification  of  '  nephew' 
in  our  present  acceptation  of  that  word. 

The  warts,  black  moles,  spots  and  freckles  of  fathers,  not  appear 
ing  at  all  upon  their  own  children's  skin,  begin  afterwards  to  put  forth 
and  show  themselves  in  their  nephews,  to  wit,  the  children  of  their 

sons  and  daughters. 

Holland,  Plutarch's  Morals,  p.  555. 

With  what  intent  they  [the  apocryphal  books]  were  first  published, 
those  words  of  the  nephew  of  Jesus  do  plainly  enough  signify :  After 
that  my  grandfather  Jesus  had  given  himself  to  I  he  reading  of  the  law 
and  the  prophets,  he  purposed  also  to  write  something  pertaining  to 

learning  and  wisdom. 

Hooker,  Ecclesiastical  Polity,  b.  v.  c.  20. 

f 

If  any  widow  have  children  or  nephews  [IVyo»>a],  let  them  learn  first 
to  show  piety  at  home,  and  to  requite  their  parents. 

1  Tim.  v.  4.  Authorized  Version. 


NICE.  The  use  of  '  nice'  in  the  sense  of  fastidious, 
difficult  to  please,  still  survives,  indeed  this  is  now,  as 
in  times  past,  the  ruling  notion  of  the  word  ;  only  this 
i  niceness'  is  taken  now  much  oftener  in  good  part 
than  in  ill ;  nor,  even  when  taken  in  an  ill  sense, 
would  the  word  be  used  exactly  as  in  the  passage 
which  follows. 

A.  W.  [Antony  a  Wood]  was  with  him  several  times,  ate  and 
drank  with  him,  and  had  several  discourses  with  him  concerning  arms 


134  NICE — NOISOME. 

and  armory,  which  ho  understood  well ;  but  he  found  him  nice  and 
supercilious. 

Anthony  a  Wood,  Athcnce  Ojconienses,  1848,  vol.  i.  p.  161. 


NIECE.  This  word  has  undergone  the  same  change 
and  limitation  of  meaning  as  i  nephew'  (q.  v.)  with 
indeed  the  further  limitation  that  it  is  now  applied  to 
the  female  sex  alone,  to  the  daughter  of  a  brother  or 
a  sister,  being  once  used,  as  '  neptis'  was  at  the  first, 
for  children's  children,  male  and  female  alike. 

Laban  answeride  to  hym  :  My  dowytres  and  sones,  and  the  flockis, 
and  alle  that  thou  beholdist,  ben  myne,  and  what  may  I  do  to  my 

sones  and  to  my  neces  ? 

Gen.  xxxi.  43  ;  cf.  Exod.  xxxiv.  7.  Wiclif. 

The  Emperor  Augustus,  among  other  singularities  that  he  had  by 
himself  during  his  life,  saw,  ere  he  died,  the  nephew  of  his  niece,  that 
is  to  say  his  progeny  to  the  fourth  degree  of  lineal  descent. 

Holland,  Pliny,  vol.  i.  p.  162. 

Within  the  compass  of  which  very  same  time  he  [Julius  Csesar] 
lost  by  death  first  his  mother,  then  his  daughter  Julia,  and  not  long 

after  his  niece  by  the  said  daughter. 

Id.,  Suetonius,  p.  11. 

NOISOME.  At  present  offensive  and  moving  disgust ; 
but  once  noxious  and  actually  hurtful.  In  all  pas 
sages  of  the  Authorized  Translation  of  the  Bible 
where  the  word  occurs,  it  is  used  not  in  its  present 
meaning,  but  its  past. 

The}'  that  will  be  rich  fall  into  temptations  and  snares,  and  into 
many  foolish  and  noisome  [/?Aa/?tpuj]  lusts,  which  drown  men  in  perdi 
tion  and  destruction. 

1  Tim.  vi.  9.  Geneva. 


NOISOME — NURSERY.  135 

He  [the  superstitious  person]  is  persuaded  that  they  he  gods  in 
deed,  but  such  as  be  noisome,  hurtful,  and  doing  mischief  unto  men. 

Holland,  Plutarch's  Morals,  p.  260. 

They  [the  prelates]  are  so  far  from  hindering1  dissension,  that  they 
have  made  unprofitable,  and  even  noisome,  the  chiefest  remedy  we 
have  to  keep  Christendom  at  one,  which  is,  by  Councils. 

Milton,  The  Reason  of  Church  Government,  b.  i.  c.  6. 


NOVELIST.  He  now  is,  or  ought  to  be,  the  writer 
of  new  tales ;  he  was  once  an  innovator,  a  bringer-in 
of  new  fashions  into  the  Church  or  State. 

But,  see  and  say  what  you  will,  novelists  had  rather  be  talked  of, 
that  they  began  a  fashion  and  set  a  copy  for  others,  than  to  keep 
within  the  imitation  of  the  most  excellent  precedents. 

Hacket,  The  Life  of  Archbishop  Williams,  part  ii.  p.  36. 

Every  novelist  with  a  whirligig  in  his  brain  must  broach  new  opin 
ions,  and  those  made  canons,  nay  sanctions,  as  sure  as  if  a  General 
Council  had  confirmed  them. 

Adams,  The  Devil's  Banquet,  1614,  p.  52. 


NURSERY.  We  have  but  one  use  of  i  nursery'  at 
this  present,  namely,  as  the  place  of  nursing ;  but  it 
was  once  applied  as  well  to  the  person  nursed,  or  the 
act  of  nursing. 

A  jolly  dame,  no  doubt ;  as  appears  by  the  well  battling  of  the 
plump  boy,  her  nursery. 

Fuller,  A  Pisgah  Sight  of  Palestine,  part  i.  b.  ii.  c.  8. 

If  nursery  exceeds  her  [a  mother's]  strength,  and  yet  her  conscience 
will  scarce  permit  her  to  lay  aside  and  free  herself  from  so  natural,  so 
religious  a  work,  yet  tell  her,  God  loves  mercy  better  than  sacrifice. 
Rogers,  Matrimonial  Honour,  p.  247. 


136  OBELISK — OBNOXIOUS. 


0. 

OBELISK.  The  '  obelus'  is  properly  a  sharp-pointed 
spear  or  spit ;  with  a  sign  resembling  this,  spurious 
or  doubtful  passages  were  marked  in  the  books  of  an 
tiquity,  which  sign  bore  therefore  this  name  of '  obelus,' 
or  sometimes  of  its  diminutive  '  obeliscus.'  It  is  in 
this  sense  that  we  find  '  obelisk'  employed  by  the  wri 
ters  in  the  seventeenth  century ;  while  for  us  at  the 
present  a  small  pillar  tapering  toward  the  summit  is 
the  only  '  obelisk'  that  we  know. 

The  Lord  Keeper,  the  most  circumspect  of  any  man  alive  to  pro 
vide  for  uniformity,  and  to  countenance  it,  was  scratched  with  their 
obelisk,  that  he  favoured  Puritans,  and  that  sundry  of  them  had  pro 
tection  through  his  connivency  or  clemency. 

Hacket,  The  Life  of  Archbishop  Williams,  part  i.  p.  95. 

I  have  set  my  mark  upon  them  [i.  e.  affected  pedantic  words] ;  and 
if  any  of  them  may  have  chanced  to  escape  the  obelisk,  there  can  arise 
no  other  inconvenience  from  it  but  an  occasion  to  exercise  the  choice 
and  judgment  of  the  reader. 

Phillips,  The  New  World  of  Words,  Preface. 


OBNOXIOUS.  In  its  present  lax  and  slovenly  use,  a 
vague  unserviceable  synonym  for  offensive,  it  is  prop 
erly  applied  to  one  who  on  the  ground  of  a  mischief 
or  wrong  committed  by  him  is  justly  liable  to  punish 
ment  (ob  noxam  pocna)  obligatus)  ;  and  is  used  in  this 
sense  by  South  (see  below).  But  there  often  falls 


OBNOXIOUS — OBSEQUIOUS.  137 

out  of  the  word  the  sense  of  a  wrong  committed  ;  and 
that  of  liability  to  punishment,  whether  just  or  unjust, 
only  remains  ;  it  does  so  very  markedly  in  the  quota 
tion  from  Donne.  But  we  punish  or  wish  to  punish 
those  whom  we  dislike,  and  thus  i  obnoxious'  had  ob 
tained  its  present  sense  of  offensive. 

They  envy  Christ,  but  they  turn  upon  the  man,  who  was  more 
obnoxious  to  them,  and  they  tell  him  that  it  was  not  lawful  for  him  to 

carry  his  bed  that  day  [John  v.  10]. 

Donne,  Sermon  20. 

Examine  thyself  in  the  particulars  of  thy  relations ;  especially 
where  thou  governest  and  takest  accounts  of  others,  and  art  not  so 
obnoxious  to  them  as  they  to  thee. 

J.  Taylor,  The  Worthy  Communicant,  c.  vi.  sect.  2. 

What  shall  we  then  say  of  the  power  of  God  Himself  to  dispose 
of  men?  little,  finite,  obnoxious  things  of  his  own  making? 

South,  Sermons,  1744,  vol.  vin.  p.  SID. 


OBSEQUIOUS,  )  There  lies  ever  in  '  obsequious*  at 
OBSEQUIOUSNESS.  J  the  present  the  sense  of  an  observ 
ance  which  is  overdone,  of  an  unmanly  readiness  to 
fall  in  with  the  will  of  another ;  there  lay  nothing  of 
this  in  the  Latin  '  obsequium,'  nor  yet  in  our  English 
word  as  employed  two  centuries  ago. 

Besides  many  other  fishes  in  divers  places,  which  are  very  obeisant 
and  obsequious,  when  they  be  called  by  their  names. 

Holland,  Plutarch's  Morals,  p.  970. 

His  corrections  are  so  far  from  compelling  men  to  come  to  heaven, 
as  that  they  put  many  men  farther  out  of  their  way,  and  work  an  ob- 

duration  rather  than  an  obsequiousness. 

Donne,  Sermon  45. 


138  OBSEQUIOUS — OFFAL. 

In  her  relation  to  the  king  she  was  the  best  pattern  of  conjugal 

love  and  obsequiousness. 

Bates,  Sermon  upon  the  Death  of  the  Queen. 


OCCUPY,  |  He  now  '  occupies,'  who  has  in  present 
OCCUPIER,  j  possession  ;  but  the  word  involved  once 
the  further  signification  of  using,  employing,  laying 
out  that  which  was  thus  possessed  ;  and  by  an  4  occu 
pier'  was  meant  a  trader  or  retail  dealer. 

He  [Kumenes]  made  as  though  he  had  occasion  to  occupy  money, 
and  so  borrowed  a  great  sum  of  them. 

North,  Plutarch's  Lives,  p.  505. 

If  they  bind  me  fast  with  new  ropes  that  never  were  occupied,  then 
shall  I  be  weak,  and  be  as  another  man. 

Judges  xvi.  11.  Authorized  Version. 

Mercury,  the  master  of  merchants  aud  occupiers  [-lyjpuiMi-]. 

Holland,  Plutarch's  Morals,  p.  G92. 

OFFAL.  This,  bearing  its  derivation  on  its  front, 
namely,  that  it  is  that  which,  as  refuse  and  of  little 
or  no  worth,  is  suffered  or  caused  to  fall  off,  we  re 
strict  at  the  present  to  the  refuse  of  the  butcher's 
stall ;  but  it  was  once  employed  in  a  much  wider  ac 
ceptation. 

Glean  not  in  barren  soil  these  offal  ears, 

Sith  reap  thou  mav'st  whole  harvests  of  delight. 

Southwell,  Lcicd  Love  is  Loss. 

Poor  Lazarus  lies  howling  at  his  gates  for  a  few  crumbs ;  he  only 
seeks  chippings,  offals ;  let  him  roar  and  howl,  famish  and  eat  his 
own  flesh ;  he  respects  him  not. 

Burton,  The  Anatomy  of  Melancholy,  part  iii.  sect.  1. 


OFFICIOUS — ORIENT.  189 

OFFICIOUS,  )  Again  and  again  we  light  on  words 
OFFICIOL-SNESS.  {  used  once  in  a  good,  but  now  in  an 
unfavorable,  sense.  An  '  officious'  person  is  now  a 
busy  uninvited  meddler  in  matters  which  do  not  be 
long  to  him  ;  so  late  as  Burke's  time  he  might  be  one 
prompt  and  forward  in  due  offices  of  kindness.  The 
more  honorable  use  of  4  officious'  now  only  survives  in 
the  distinction  familiar  to  diplomacy  between  an  '  offi 
cial'  and  '  officious'  communication. 

With  granted  leave  officious  I  return. 

Milton,  Paradise  Regained,  b.  ii. 

Officious,  ready  to  do  good  offices,  serviceable,  friendly,  very  cour 
teous  and  obliging. 

Phillips,  The  New  World  of  Words. 

They  [the  nobility  of  France]  were  tolerably  well  bred,  very  offi 
cious,  humane,  and  hospitable. 

Burke,  Reflections  on  the  Revolution  in  France,  p.  251. 

Which  familiar  and  affectionate  officiousness  and  sumptuous  cost, 
together  with  that  sinister  fame  that  woman  was  noted  with  [Luke 
vii.  37],  could  not  but  give  much  scandal  to  the  Pharisees  there  pres 
ent. 

H.  More,  On  Godliness,  b.  viii.  c.  13. 


ORIENT.  There  was  once  a  beautiful  use  of  '  orient' 
as  clear,  bright,  shining,  which  has  now  wholly  de 
parted  from  it.  So  entirely  was  all  notion  of  '  eastern' 
sometimes  dropped  from  the  word,  that  in  Milton's 
sublime  Ode  on  the  Nativity,  the  setting'  sun  is  said 
to  "  pillow  his  chin  upon  an  orient  wave."  In  like 
manner  '  orient,'  as  so  often  applied  to  the  pearl  by 


140  ORIENT — OSTLER. 

our  earlier  poets,  does  not  in  this  connection  mean 
'  oriental,'  but  pellucid,  white,  shining.  It  is  not  of 
course  denied  that  the  meaning  here  claimed  for  '  ori 
ent'  accrued  to  it  originally  from  the  greater  clearness 
and  lightness  of  the  east,  as  the  quarter  whence  the 
day  broke. 

Those  shells  that  keep  in  the  main  sea,  and  lie  deeper  than  that 
the  sunbeams  can  pierce  unto  them,  keep  the  finest  and  most  delicate 
pearls.  And  yet  they,  as  orient  as  they  be,  wax  yellow  with  age. 

Holland,  Pliny,  part  i.  p.  255. 

Her  wings  and  train  of  feathers,  mixed  fine 
Of  orient  azure  and  incarnadine. 

Sylvester,  Du  Bartas,  Fifth  Day. 

KOKKOS  0a<}>iKfi,  a  shrub,  whose  red  berries  or  grains  gave  an  orient 

tincture  to  cloth. 

Fuller,  A  Pisgah  Sight  of  Palestine,  b.  iv.  c.  6. 


OSTLER.  Not  formerly,  as  now,  the  servant  of  the 
inn,  having  care  of  the  horses,  but  the  innkeeper  or 
host,  the  '  hosteller'  himself. 

And  another  dai  he  broughte  forth  tweie  pens,  and  gaf  to  the  ostler 

[stabulario,  Vulg.]. 

Luke  x.  35.  Wiclif. 

The  innkeeper  was  old,  fourscore  almost; 
Indeed  an  emblem,  rather  than  an  host ; 
In  whom  we  read  how  God  and  Time  decree 
To  honour  thrifty  ostlers,  such  as  he. 

Corbet,  Iter  Boreale. 


PAINFUL,     ^  l  Painful'  is  now  feeling  pain,  or  in- 
PAINFULNESS,  >  flicting  it ;  it  was  once  taking  pains. 
PAINFULLY.     J  Many  things  would  not  be  so  '  pain-^ 
ful'  in  the  present  sense  of  the  word,  if  they  had  been 
more  '  painful'  in  the  earlier,  as  perhaps  some  ser 
mons. 

Within  fourteen  generations,  the  royal  blood  of  the  kings  of  Judah 
ran  in  the  veins  of  plain  Joseph,  a  painful  carpenter. 

Fuller,  The  Holy  War,  b.  v.  c.  29. 

O  the  holiness  of  their  living,  and  painfulness  of  their  preaching. 

Id.,  The  Holy  State,  b.  ii.  c.  6. 

Whoever  would  be  truly  thankful,  let  him  live  in  some  honest  vo 
cation,  and  therein  bestow  himself  faithfully  and  painfully. 

Sanderson,  Sermons,  vol.  i.  p.  251. 


PALLIATE,  )  i  To  palliate'  is  at  this  day  to  extenu- 
PALLIATION.  J  ate  a  fault  through  the  setting  out  of 
whatever  will  best  serve  to  diminish  the  estimate  of 
its  gravity ;  and  does  not  imply  any  endeavor  wholly 
to  deny  it ;  nay,  implies  rather  a  certain  recognition 
and  admission  of  the  fault  itself.  Truer  to  its  ety 
mology  once,  it  expressed  the  cloking  of  it,  the  at 
tempt,  successful  or  otherwise,  entirely  to  conceal  and 
cover  it.  Eve  '  palliates'  her  fault  in  the  modern 
sense  of  the  word  (  Gen.  iii.  13),  Gehazi  in  the  earlier 
(2  Kings  v.  25). 


142  PALLIATE — PATHETIC. 

You  cannot  palliate  mischief,  but  it  will 
Through  nil  the  fairest  coverings  of  deceit 
Be  always  seen. 

Daniel,  The  Tragedy  of  Philotas,  Act  iv.  Sc.  2. 

You  see  the  Devil  could  fetch  up  nothing  of  Samuel  at  the  request 
of  Saul,  but  a  shadow  and  a  resemblance,  his  countenance  and  his 
mantle,  which  yet  was  not  enough  to  cover  the  cheat,  or  to  palliate 
the  illusion. 

South,  Sermon  on  Easter  Day. 

The  generality  of  Christians  make  the  external  frame  of  religion 
but  a  palliation  for  sin. 

H.  More,  The  Grand  Mystery  of  Godliness,  p.  ix. 

PANTOMIME.  Now  the  mimic  show  itself,  but  at  the 
first  introduction  of  the  word  (Bacon's  constant  use 
of  '  pantomimus'  and  '  pantomimi'  testifies  that  it  was 
new  in  his  time),  the  player  who  presented  the  show. 

You  shall  have  a  buffoon  or  pantomimus  shall  express  as  many 
[voices]  as  he  pleaseth. 

Bacon,  The  Advancement  of  Learning,  b.  ii. 

I  would  our  pantomimes  also  and  stage-players  would  examine 
themselves  and  their  callings  by  this  rule. 

Sanderson,  Sermon  on  1  Cor.  vii.  24. 
Not  that  I  think  those  pantomimes 
Who  vary  action  with  the  times, 
Are  less  ingenious  in  their  art 
Than  those  who  dully  act  one  pnrt. 

Butler,  Hudibras,  part  iii.  c.  2. 

PATHETIC.  ^  The  4  pathetic'  is  now  only  one  kind 
PATHKTICAL,  >  of  the  passionate,  that  which,  feeling 
PATHETICALLY.  )  pity,  is  itself  capable  of  stirring  it ; 


PATHETIC — PEEVISH.  143 

but  c  pathetic'  or  <  pathetical'  and  '  passionate'  were 
once  of  an  equal  reach.  When  in  a  language  like 
ours  two  words,  derived  from  two  different  languages, 
as  in  this  case  from  the  Greek  and  from  the  Latin, 
exist  side  by  side,  being  at  the  same  time  identical  in 
signification,  the  desynonymizing  process  which  we 
may  note  here,  continually  comes  into  play. 

He  [Hiel,  cf.  1  Kings  xvi.  34]  mistook  Joshua's  curse  rather  for  a 
pathetical  expression  than  prophetical  prediction. 

Fuller,  A  Pisgah  Sight  of  Palestine,  b.  ii.  c.  12. 

Whatever  word  enhanceth  Joseph's  praise, 
Her  echo  doubles  it,  and  doth  supply 
Some  more  pathetic  and  transcendent  phrase 
To  raise  his  merit. 

Beaumont,  Psyche,  c.  i.  St.  148. 

For  Truth,  I  know  not  how,  hath  this  unhappiness  fatal  to  her,  ere 
she  can  come  to  the  trial  and  inspection  of  the  understanding;  being 
to  pass  through  many  little  wards  and  limits  of  the  several  affections 
and  desires,  she  cannot  shift  it,  but  must  put  on  such  colours  and  at 
tire  as  those  pathetical  handmaids  of  the  soul  please  to  lead  her  in  to 
their  queen. 

Milton,  The  Reason  of  Church.  Government,  b.  ii.  c.  3. 

But  the  principal  point  whereon  our  apostle  pitcheth  for  evincing 
the  priesthood  of  Christ  to  be  far  more  excellent  than  the  Levitical 
priesthood  was,  was  reserved  to  the  last,  and  pathetically  though 
briefly  avouched,  ver.  20  [Heb.  vii.  20]. 

Jackson,  Of  the  Divine  Essence  and  Attributes,  b.  ix.  §  2. 


PEEVISH,       )  By  '  peevishness'  we  now  understand 
PEEVISHNESS.  )  a  small  but  constantly  fretting  ill- 
temper  ;  yet  no  one  can  read  our  old  authors,  with 
whom  4  peevish'  and  '  peevishness'  are  of  constant  re- 


144  PEEVISH. 

currence,  without  feeling  that  their  use  of  them  is  dif 
ferent  from  ours ;  although  precisely  to  determine 
what  their  use  was  is  any  thing  but  easy.  Gilford 
( Massing er,  vol.  i.  p.  71)  says  confidently,  "  peevish 
is  foolish ;"  but  upon  induction  from  an  insufficient 
number  of  passages.  '  Peevish'  is  rather  self-willed, 
obstinate.  That  in  a  world  like  ours  those  who  refuse 
to  give  up  their  own  wills  should  be  continually 
crossed,  and  thus  should  become  fretful,  and  i  peevish' 
in  our  modern  sense  of  the  word,  is  inevitable  ;  and 
here  is  the  history  of  the  change  of  meaning  which  it 
has  undergone. 

Valentine.  Cannot  your  grace  win  her  to  fancy  him? 
Duke.  No,  trust  me;  she  is  peevish,  sullen,  forward, 

Proud,  disobedient,  stubborn,  lacking  duty. 

Shakespeare,  The  Two  Gentlemen  of  Verona,  Act  iii.  Sc.  1. 

We  provoke,  rail,  scoff,  calumniate,  challenge,  hate,  abuse  (hard 
hearted,  implacable,  malicious,  peevish,  inexorable  as  we  arc),  to  sat 
isfy  our  lust  or  private  spleen. 

Burton,  The  Anatomy  of  Melancholy,  part  iii.  §  1. 
Pertinax  hominum  genus,  a  peevish  generation  of  men. 

Id.,  lb.  part  iii.  §  4. 

That  grand  document  of  keeping  to  the  light  within  us  they  [tho 
Quakers]  borrow  out  of  S.  John's  Gospel ;  and  yet  they  are  so  fran 
tic  and  peevish,  that  they  would  fling  away  the  staff  without  which 
they  are  not  able  to  make  one  step  in  religion. 

H.  More,  The  Grand  Mystery  of  Godliness,  b.  viii.  c.  12. 
In  case  the  Romans,  upon  an  inbred  peevishness  and  engrafted 
pertinacity  of  theirs,  should  not  hear  reason,  but  refuse  an  indifferent 
end,  then  both  God  and  man  shall  be  witness  as  well  of  the  modera 
tion  of  Perseus,  as  of  their  pride  and  insolent  frowardness. 

Holland,  Livy,  p.  1152. 


PEEVISH — PENITENTIARY.  145 

We  must  carefully  distinguish  continuance  in  opinion  from  obsti 
nacy,  confidence  of  understanding  from  peevishness  of  affection,  a  not 
being  convinced  from  a  resolution  never  to  be  convinced. 

J.  Taylor,  The  Liberty  of  Prophesying,  §  ii.  10. 


PENCIL.  The  distinction  between  *  pencil'  and  paint 
brush,  with  the  employment  of  '  pencil'  in  any  other 
sense  than  that  of  brush,  is  quite  of  modern  introduc 
tion.  The  older  use  of  the  word,  it  needs  hardly  to 
say,  was  etymologically  more  correct  than  the  modern, 
'  pencil'  being  i  pencillus,'  or  little  tail ;  and  the  brush 
was  so  called  because  it  hung  and  drooped  as  this  does. 

Heaven  knows,  they  were  besmeared  and  overstained 
With  slaughter's  pencil,  where  revenge  did  paint 
The  fearful  difference  of  incensed  kings. 

Shakespeare,  King  John,  Act  iii.  Sc.  1. 

Learning  is  necessary  to  him  [the  heretic],  if  he  trades  in  a  critical 
error ;  but  if  he  only  broaches  dregs,  and  deals  in  some  dull  sottish 
opinion,  a  trowel  will  serve  as  well  as  a  pencil  to  daub  on  such  thick 

coarse  colours. 

Fuller,  TJie  Profane  State,  b.  v.  c.  10. 

The  first  thing  she  did  after  rising  was  to  have  recourse  to  the  red- 
pot,  out  of  which  she  laid  it  on  very  thick  with  a  pencil,  not  only  on 
her  cheeks,  chin,  under  the  nose,  above  the  eyebrows  and  edges  of 
the  ears,  but  also  on  the  inside  of  her  hands,  her  fingers,  and  shoul 
ders. 

The  Lady's  Travels  in  Spain,  Letter  8. 

PENITENTIARY.  It  is  curious  that  this  word  has  pos 
sessed  three  entirely  independent  meanings,  penitent, 
ordainer  of  penances  in  the  Church,  and  place  for 
penitents  ;  only  the  last  survives. 

7 


146  PENITENTIARY — PERSEVERANCE. 

So  Manasseh  in  the  beginning  and  middle  of  his  reign  filled  the 
city  with  innocent  blood,  and  died  a  penitentiary. 

Jackson,  Christ's  Session  at  the  Ri<jht  Hand  of  God,  b.  ii.  c.  42. 

'Twas  a  French  friar's  conceit  that  courtiers  were  of  all  men  the 
likeliest  to  forsake  the  world  and  turn  penitentiaries. 

Hammond,  The.  Seventh  Sermon,  IVorks,  vol.  iv.  p.  517. 

Penitentiary,  a  priest  that  imposes  upon  an  offender  what  penance 

he  thinks  fit. 

Phillips,  The  Xno  World  of  Words. 


PENURY.  This  expresses  now  no  more  than  the  ob 
jective  fact  of  extreme  poverty  ;  an  ethical  subjective 
meaning  not  lying  in  it,  as  would  sometimes  of  old, 
but  no\v  only  retained  in  '  penurious.' 

God  sometimes  punishes  one  sin  with  another;  pride  with  adul 
tery,  drunkenness  with  murder,  carelessness  with  irreligion,  idleness 
with  vanity,  penury  with  oppression. 

J.  Taylor,  The  Faith  and  Patience  of  the  Saints. 

PERSEVERANCE.  It  is  difficult  to  connect  the  uses 
of  '  perseverance'  whereof  examples  are  given  below, 
and  they  might  easily  be  multiplied,  with  its  more 
frequent  use  of  old,  and  its  sole  use  at  present.  In 
deed  I  have  sometimes  doubts  whether  it  be  the  same 
word  at  all,  and  whether  we  are  not  to  look  to  i  sep- 
erare,'  '  sevrer,'  '  severance'  (it  might  thus  be  the 
power  of  dividing  and  distinguishing),  for  its  root 
rather  than  to  '  perseverantia.'  None  of  our  Diction 
aries  give  any  assistance  in  the  matter ;  indeed  they 
have  not  noted  this  use  of  the  word  ;  but  there  is  a 


PERSEVERANCE PERSON.  147 

good  collection  of  illustrative  passages  in  Notes  and 
Queries,  No.  182. 

For  his  diet  he  [Ariosto]  was  very  temperate,  and  a  great  enemy 
of  excess  and  surfeiting,  and  so  careless  of  delicates  as  though  he  had 
no  perseverance  for  the  taste  of  meats. 

Sir  J.  Harington,  Life  of  Ariosto,  p.  418. 

He  [JSmilius  Paulus]  suddenly  fell  into  a  raving  (without  any 
perseverance  of  sickness  spied  in  him  before,  or  any  change  or  altera 
tion  in  him  [-rrplv  ala6iadat  ical  vonam  TV/I/  ^£ra8o\i]v\'),  and  his  wits  went 
from  him  in  such  sort  that  he  died  three  days  after. 

North,  Plutarch's  Lives,  p.  221. 


PERSON.  We  have  forfeited  the  full  force  of  the 
statement,  "  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons;"  from 
the  fact  that  '  person'  does  not  mean  for  us  now  all 
that  it  once  meant.  '  Person,'  from  '  persona,'  the 
mask  constantly  worn  by  the  actor  of  antiquity,  is,  by 
natural  transfer,  the  part  or  role  in  the  play  which 
each  sustains,  as  cpdrfwroy  is  in  Greek.  In  the  great 
tragi-comedy  of  life  each  sustains  a  '  person  ;'  one  that 
of  a  king,  another  that  of  a  hind  ;  one  must  play 
Dives,  another  Lazarus.  This  '  person'  God,  for  whom 
the  question  is  not,  what  '  person'  each  sustains,  but 
how  he  sustains  it,  does  not  regard. 

King.  What,  rate,  rebuke,  and  roughly  send  to  prison 
The  immediate  heir  of  England  !   was  this  easy  ? 
May  this  be  washed  in  Lethe,  and  forgotten  ? 

Chief  Justice.  I  then  did  use  the  person  of  your  father; 
The  image  of  his  power  lay  then  in  me. 

Shakespeare,  2  Henry  TV.  Act  v.  Sc.  2. 


148  PERSON — PESTER. 

Caesar  also  is  brought  in  by  Julian  attributing  to  himself  the  hon 
our  (if  it  were  at  all  an  honour  to  that  person  which  he  sustained),  of 
being  the  first  that  left  his  ship  and  took  land. 

Milton,  The  History  of  England,  b.  ii. 

Certain  it  is,  that  no  man  can  long  put  on  a  person  and  act  a  part 
but  his  evil  manners  will  peep  through  the  corners  of  his  white  robe, 
and  God  will  bring  a  hypocrite  to  shame  even  in  the  eyes  of  men. 

J.  Taylor,  Apples  of  Sodom. 


PERSPECTIVE.  '  Telescope'  and  '  microscope'  are 
both  as  old  as  Milton  ;  but  for  a  long  while  '  perspec 
tive'  (glass  being  sometimes  understood,  and  sometimes 
expressed)  did  the  work  of  these.  It  is  sometimes 
written  '  prospective.'  Our  present  use  of  '  perspec 
tive'  does  not,  I  suppose,  date  farther  back  than  Dry- 
den. 

While  we  look  for  incorruption  in  the  heavens,  we  find  they  are 
but  like  the  earth,  durable  in  their  main  bodies,  alterable  in  their 
parts ;  whereof,  beside  comets  and  new  stars,  perspectives  begin  to  tell 
tales  ;  and  the  spots  that  wander  about  the  sun,  with  Phaeton's  favour, 

would  make  clear  conviction. 

Sir  T.  Browne,  Hydriotaphia. 

Look  through  faith's  perspective  with  the  magnifving  end  on  invisi 
bles  (for  such  is  its  frame,  it  lesseneth  visibles),  and  thou  wilt  see 

sights  not  more  strange  than  satisfying. 

Whitlock,  Zootomia,  p.  535. 

A  tiny  mite  which  we  can  scarcely  see 
Without  a  perspective. 

Oldham,  Eighth  Satire  of  M.  Boileau. 

PESTER.  There  is  no  greater  discomfort  or  annoy 
ance  than  extreme  straightness  or  narrowness  of  room  ; 


PESTER — PLACARD.  149 

out  of  which  in  Greek  tfrsvop/wp/a,  signifying  this,  has 
come  to  have  a  secondary  signification  of  trouble  or 
anguish.  In  English,  to  i  pester'  bears  witness  to  the 
same  fact,  though  it  has  travelled  in  exactly  the  oppo 
site  direction,  and  having  first  the  meaning  of  to  vex 
or  annoy,  which  meaning  it  still  retains,  had  also  once 
a  second  meaning  of  painfully  cooping-up  in  a  narrow 
and  confined  space ;  which,  however,  it  now  has  let 
go- 

Now  because  the  most  part  of  the  people  might  not  possibly  have 
a  sight  of  him,  they  gat  up  all  at  once  into  the  theatre,  and  pestered  it 

quite  full. 

i      Holland,  Livy,  p.  1055. 

They  within,  though  pestered  with  their  own  numbers,  stood  to  it 
like  men  resolved,  and  in  a  narrow  compass  did  remarkable  deeds. 

Milton,  The  History  of  England,  b.  ii. 

The  calendar  is  filled,  not  to  say,  pestered  with  them,  jostling  one 
another  for  room,  many  holding  the  same  day  in  copartnership  of 
festivity. 

Fuller,  The  Worthies  of  England,  c.  3. 

PLACARD.  Formerly  used  often  in  the  sense  of  a 
license  or  permission,  the  i  placard'  being  properly 
the  broad  tablet  or  board  on  which  this,  as  well  as 
other  edicts  and  ordinances,  was  exposed. 

Then  for  my  voice  I  must  (no  choice) 
Away  of  force,  like  posting  horse, 
For  sundry  men  had  placards  then 

Such  child  to  take. 

'      Tusser,  The  Author's  Life. 

Others  are  of  the  contrary  opinion,  and  that  Christianity  gives  us 
a  placard  to  use  these  sports ;  and  that  man's  charter  of  dominion 


150  PLACARD — PLAUSIBLE. 

over  the  creatures  enables  him  to  employ  them  as  well  for  pleasure  as 
necessity. 

Fuller,  The  Holy  State,  b.  iii.  c.  13. 


PLANTATION.  We  still  i  plant'  a  colony,  but  a  '  plan 
tation'  is  now  of  trees  only  ;  and  not  of  men,  as  it 
was  when  i  The  Plantations'  was  the  standing  name 
by  which  our  transatlantic  colonies  were  known. 

It  is  a  shameful  and  unblessed  tiling  to  take  the  scum  of  people 
and  wicked  condemned  men  to  be  the  people  with  whom  you  plant; 
and  not  only  so,  but  it  spoileth  the  plantation. 

Bacon,  Essays,  33. 

Plantations  make  mankind  broader,  as  generation  makes  it  thicker. 
Fuller,  The  Holy  Stale,  b.  iii.  c.  16. 

PLAUSIBLE,  ^  That  is  '  plausible'  now  which  pre- 

PLAUSIBLY,       >  sents  itself  as  worthy  of  applause  ; 

PLAUSIBILITY.  J  yet  always  with  a  subaudition,  or  at 

least  a  suggestion,  that  it  is  not  so  really  ;  it  was  once 

that  which  obtained  applause,  with  at  least  the  primd 

facie  likelihood  that  the  applause  which  it  obtained 

it  deserved.   ^   .  t>v  %    /I,  ^  N 

This  John,  Bishop  of  Constantinople,  that  assumed  to  himself  the 
title  of  Universal  Bishop  or  Patriarch,  was  a  pood  man,  {riven  greatly 
to  alms  and  fasting,  but  too  much  addicted  to  advance  the  title  of  his 
see ;  which  made  a  plausible  bishop  seem  to  be  Antichrist  to  Gregory 
the  Great. 

Hacket,  The  Life  of  Archbishop  Williams,  part  ii.  p.  66. 

The  Romans  plausibly  did  give  consent 
For  Tarquin's  everlasting  banishment. 

Shakespeare,  The  Rape  of  Lucrece. 


PLAUSIBLE  —  POLITICS.  151 

He  was  no  sooner  in  sight  than  every  one  received  him  plausibly, 
and  with  great  submission  and  reverence. 

Stubs,  TJie  Anatomy  of  Abuses,  p.  17. 

Being  placed  in  the  upper  part  of  the  world,  [he]  carried  on  his 
dignity  with  that  justice,  modesty,  integrity,  fidelity,  and  other  gra 
cious  plausibilities,  that  in  a  place  of  trust  he  contented  those  whom 
he  could  not  satisfy,  and  in  a  place  of  envy  procured  the  love  of  those 
who  emulated  his  greatness. 

Vaughan,  The  Life  and  Death  of  Dr.  Jackson. 


POACH,  )  It  sounds  strange  to  say  that '  poker'  and 
POACHER,  j  '  poacher*  are  in  fact  one  and  the  same 
word  ;  which,  doubtless,  they  are.  A  '  poacher'  is, 
strictly  speaking,  an  intruder,  the  word  means  nothing 
more  ;  one  who  intrudes,  '  pokes,'  or  '  poaches'  into 
land  where  he  has  no  business ;  the  fact  that  he  does 
so  with  the  intention  of  spoiling  the  game  is  super- 
added,  not  lying  in  the  word. 

So  that,  to  speak  truly,  they  [the  Spaniards]  have  rather  poached 
and  offered  at  a  number  of  enterprises,  than  maintained  any  con 
stantly. 

Bacon,  Notes  of  a  Speech  concerning  a  War  ivith  Spain 

It  is  ill  conversing  with  an  ensnarer,  delving  into  the  bottom  of 
your  mind,  to  know  what  is  hid  in  it.  I  would  ask  a  casuist  if  it 
were  not  lawful  for  me  not  only  to  hide  my  mind,  but  to  cast  some 
thing  that  is  not  true  before  such  a  poacher. 

Hacket,  The  Life  of  Archbishop  Williams,  part  ii.  p.  113. 

POLITICS,    )  At  the  present  '  polities'  are  always 

POLITICIAN,  j  things,  but  were  sometimes  persons  as 

well  in  times  past.     '  Politician1  also  had  mostly  an 


w ._   MM 

POLITICS — POMP. 

evil  subaudition.  One  so  named  was  a  trickster  or 
underhand  self-seeker  in  politics,  or  it  might  be,  as  it 
is  throughout  in  the  sermon  of  South,  quoted  below, 
in  the  ordinary  affairs  of  life. 

It  did  in  particular  exasperate  Tacitus,  and  other  politicks  of  his 
temper,  to  see  so  many  natural  Romans  renounce  their  name  and 
country  for  maintenance  of  Jewish  religion. 

Jackson,  The  Eternal  Truth  of  Scriptures,  b.  i.  c.  20. 

Why,  look  you,  I  am  whipped  and  scourged  with  rods, 
Nettled  and  stung  with  pismires,  when  I  hear 
Of  this  vile  politician  Bolingbroke. 

Shakespeare,  1  Henry  IV.,  Act  i.  Sc.  8. 

The  politician,  whose  very  essence  lies  in  this,  that  he  is  a  person 
ready  to  do  any  thing  that  he  apprehends  for  his  advantage,  must  first 
of  all  be  sure  to  put  himself  in  a  state  of  liberty,  as  free  and  large  as 
his  principles,  and  so  to  provide  elbow-room  enough  for  his  conscience 
to  lay  about  it,  and  have  its  full  play  in. 

South,  Sermons,  1744,  vol.  i.  p.  324. 

POMP.  "i  '  Pomp'  is  one  of  the  many  words  which 
POMPOUS,  >  Milton  employs  with  a  strict  classical 
POMPOUSLY.  )  accuracy,  so  that  he  is  only  to  be  per 
fectly  understood  when  we  keep  in  mind  that  a  4  pomp' 
with  him  is  always  iro^-ifr,,  a  procession.  He  is  not, 
however,  singular,  as  lie  often  is,  in  the  stricter  and 
more  rigorous  use  of  this  word.  It  is  easy  to  per 
ceive  how  '  pomp'  obtained  its  wider  application. 
There  is  no  such  favorable  opportunity  for  the  display 
of  state  and  magnificence  as  a  procession ;  this  is  al 
most  the  inevitable  form  which  they  take ;  and  thus 
the  word,  which  was  first  applied  to  the  most  frequent 


POMP — POLITE.  153 

display  of  these,  came  afterwards  to  be  transferred  to 
every  display. 

In  respect  of  l  pompous'  and  '  pompously'  there  is 
something  else  to  note.  There  is  in  them  always  now 
the  subaudition  of  that  which  is  more  in  show  than  in 
substance,  or,  at  any  rate,  of  a  magnificence  which,  if 
real,  is  yet  vaingloriously  and  ostentatiously  displayed. 
But  they  conveyed,  and  were  intended  to  convey,  no 
such  impression  once. 

[Antiochus]  also  provided  a  great  number  of  bulls  with  gilt  horns, 
the  which  he  conducted  himself  with  a  goodly  pomp  and  procession  to 
the  very  gate  of  the  city  \*x9l  T^v  ™^>v  eir6nircvai\. 

Holland,  Plutarch's  Morals,  p.  417. 

With  goddess-like  demeanour  forth  she  went, 
Not  unattended ;  for  on  her,  as  queen, 
A  pomp  of  winning  graces  waited  still. 

Milton,  Paradise  Lost,  b.  viii. 

What  pompous  powers  of  ravishment  were  here,1* 
What  delicate  extremities  of  pleasure. 

Beaumont,  Psyche,  can.  xv.  St.  299. 

All  expresses  related  that  the  entertainment  [of  Prince  Charles  at 
Madrid]  was  very  pompous  and  kingly. 

Racket,  The  Life  of  Archbishop  Williams,  part  i.  p.  119. 

He  [HardecnuteJ  gave  his  sister  Gunildis,  a  virgin  of  rare  beauty, 
in  marriage  to  Henry  the  Alman  Emperor;  and  to  send  her  forth 
pompously,  all  the  nobility  contributed  their  jewels  and  richest  orna 
ments. 

Milton,  TJie  History  of  England,  b.  vi. 

POLITE,    )  Between   <  polite'   and   '  polished'   this 
POLITELY,  j  much  of  difference  has  now  grown  up 

*  In  heaven. 

7* 


154  POLITE — POPULAR. 

and  established  itself,  that  '  polite'  is  always  employed 
in  a  secondary  and  tropical  sense,  having  reference 
to  the  polish  of  the  mind,  while  it  is  free  to  use  '  pol 
ished'  in  the  literal  and  figurative  sense  alike. 

Polite  bodies,  as  looking-glasses. 

Cudworth,  The  Intellectual  System,  p.  731. 

Polite;  well  polished,  neat. 

Phillips,  The  New  World  of  Words. 

In  things  artificial  seldom  any  elegance  is  wrought  without  a  su 
perfluous  waste  and  refuse  in  the  transaction.  No  marble  statue  can 
be  politely  carved,  no  fair  edifice  built,  without  almost  as  much  rubbish 
and  sweeping.  9 

Milton,  The  Reason  of  Church  Government,  b.  i.  c.  7. 

POPULAR,    1  He  was  '  popular'  once,  not  who  had 
POPULARITY,  j  acquired,  but  who  was  laying  himself 
out  to  acquire,  the  favor  of  the  people.     '  Popularity' 
was  the  wooing,  not  as  now  the  having  won,  that  fa 
vor.     The  word  which  is  passive  now  was  active  then. 

Of  a  senator  he  [Manilas]  became  popular,  and  began  to  break  his 
mind  and  impart  his  designs  unto  the  magistrates  of  the  Commons, 

finding  fault  with  the  nobility. 

Holland,  Livy,  p.  224. 

And  oft  in  vain  his  name  they  closely  bite, 
As  popular  and  flatterer  accusing. 

P.  Fletcher,  The  Purple  Island,  c.  10. 

Cato  the  Younger  charged  Muracna,  and  indited  him  in  open  court 

for  popularity  and  ambition. 

Holland,  Plutarch's  Morals,  p.  243. 

Harold,  lifted  up  in  mind,  and  forgetting  now  his  former  shows  of 
popularity,  defrauded  his  soldiers  their  due  and  well-deserved  share 
of  the  spoils. 

Milton,  The  History  of  England,  b.  vi. 


PORTLY — PRAGMATICAL.  155 

PORTLY.  There  lies  in  '  portly'  a  certain  sense  of 
dignity  of  demeanor  still,  but  always  connoted  with 
this  a  certain  cumbrousness  and  weight,  such  as  Spen 
ser  in  his  noble  Epithet! amion  (see  below)  would  never 
have  ascribed  to  his  bride,  as  little  Shakespeare  to  the 
swift-footed  Achilles  ( Troilus  and  Cressida,  Act  iv. 
Sc.  5),  or  to  the  youthful  Romeo. 

The  chief  and  most  portly  person  of  them  all  was  one  Hasdrubal 
[Insignia  tanien  inter  cetcros  Hasdrubal  erat]. 

Holland,  Liry,  p.  770. 

Lo,  where  she  comes  along  with  portly  pace, 
Like  Phoebe  from  her  chamber  of  the  east. 

Spenser,  Epithalamion,  148. 

He  [Romeo]  bears  him  like  a  portly  gentleman. 

Shakespeare,  Romeo  and  Juliet,  Act  i.  Sc.  5. 

PRAGMATICAL.  This  is  always  employed  at  the  pres 
ent  in  an  ill  sense  ;  not  merely  busy,  but  over-busy, 
officious,  meddling ;  nay,  more  than  this,  with  an  as 
sumption  of  bustling  self-importance.  The  etymology 
of  '  pragmatical'  does  not  require  this  ill  sense,  which 
is  merely  superinduced  upon  it,  and  from  which  it 
was  not  indeed  always,  but  often,  free  in  its  earlier 
use. 

It  may  appear  at  the  first  a  new  and  unwonted  argument,  to  teach 
men  how  to  raise  and  make  their  fortune ;  but  the  handling  thereof 
concerneth  learning  greatly  both  in  honour  and  in  substance.  In 
honour,  because  pragmatical  men  may  not  go  away  with  an  opinion 
that  learning  is  like  a  lark,  that  can  mount  and  sing  and  j  lease  her 
self,  and  nothing  else ;  but  may  know  that  she  holdeth  as  well  of  the 


156  PRAGMATICAL — PRETEND. 

hawk,  that  can  soar  aloft,   and   also   descend   and  strike  upon  the 

prey. 

Bacon,  The  Advancement  of  Learning,  b.  ii. 

We  cannot  always  be  contemplative  or  pragmatical  abroad ;   but 
have  need  of  some  delightful  intermissions,  wherein  the  enlarged  soul 

may  leave  off  her  severe  schooling. 

Milton,  Tetrackordon. 


PREPOSTEROUS,  ")  A  word  nearly  or  quite  unservice- 
PREPOSTEUOUSLY.  j  able  now,  being  merely  an  ungrace 
ful  and  slipshod  synonym  for  absurd.  But  restore  and 
confine  it  to  its  old  use  and  to  one  peculiar  branch  of 
absurdity,  the  reversing  of  the  true  order  and  method 
of  things,  the  putting  of  the  last  first  and  the  first  last, 
and  of  what  excellent  service  it  would  be  capable ! 

It  is  a  preposterous  order  to  teach  first,  and  to  learn  after. 

Bible,  1611,  The  Translators  to  the  Reader. 

King  Asa  justly  received  little  benefit  by  them  [physicians],  be 
cause  of  his  preposterous  addressing  himself  to  them  before  he  went  to 
God  (2  Chron.  xvi.  12). 

Fuller,  TJie  Worthies  of  England,  c.  ix. 

Some  indeed  preposterously  misplace  these,  and  make  us  partake 
of  the  benefit  of  Christ's  priestly  office  in  the  forgiveness  of  our  sins 
and  our  reconcilement  to  God,  before  we  are  brought  under  the  scep 
tre  of  his  kingly  office  by  our  obedience. 

South,  Sermons,  1744,  vol.  ix.  p.  3. 

PRETEND,    ^  To  charge  one  with  '  pretending'  any 

PRETENCE,      >  thing   is  now  a  much   more   serious 

PRETENSION.  J  charge  than  it  was  once.     Indeed,  it 

was  not  necessarily,  and  only  by  accident,  a  charge 


PRETEND.  157 

at  all.  That  was  '  pretended'  which  one  stretched 
out  before  himself  and  in  face  of  others  ;  but  whether 
it  was  the  thing  it  affirmed  itself  to  be,  or,  as  at  pres 
ent,  only  a  deceitful  resemblance  of  this,  the  word  did 
not  decide.  While  it  was  thus  with  c  to  pretend/ 
there  was  as  yet  no  distinction  recognized  between 
6  pretence'  and  i  pretension ;'  they  both  signified  the 
act  of  '  pretending,'  or  the  thing  '  pretended ;'  but 
whether  truly  or  falsely  it  was  left  to  the  context,  or 
to  the  judgment  of  the  reader,  to  decide.  '  Pretence' 
has  since  followed  the  fortunes  of  '  pretend,'  and  has 
fallen  with  it ;  while  '  pretension'  has  disengaged  it 
self  from  being  a  merely  useless  synonym  of '  pretence,' 
and,  retaining  its  relations  to  the  earlier  uses  of  the 
verb,  now  signifies  a  claim  put  forward  which  may  be 
valid,  or  may  be  invalid,  the  word  leaving  this  for 
other  considerations  to  determine.  Louis  Napoleon 
assumed  the  dictatorship  under  the  '  pretence,  of  re 
sisting  anarchy ;  the  House  of  Orleans  has  '  preten 
sions'  to  the  throne  of  France.  But  these  distinctions 
are  quite  modern. 

Being  preferred  by  King  James  to  the  bishopric  of  Chichester,  and 
pretending  his  own  imperfectness  and  insufficiency  to  undergo  such  a 
charge,  he  caused  to  be  engraven  about  the  seal  of  his  bishopric,  those 
words  of  St.  Paul,  Et  ad  hsec  quis  idoneus  ? 

Henry  Isaacson,  The  Life  and  Death  of  Lancelot  Andrews. 

[The  Sabbath]  is  rather  hominis  gratia  quam  Dei;  and  though 
God's  honour  is  mainly  pretended  in  it,  yet  it  is  man's  happiness  that 
is  really  intended  by  it,  even  of  God  Himself. 

H.  More,  The  Grand  Mystery  of  Godliness,  b.  viii.  c.  13. 


158  PRETEND — PREVARICATE. 

Or  crafty  malice  might  pretend  this  praise, 
And  think  to  ruin,  where  it  seemed  to  praise. 

B.  Jonson,  To  the  Memory  of  Shakespeare, 

This  is  the  tree  whose  leaves  were  intended  for  the  healing  of  the 
nations,  not  for  a  pretence  and  palliation  for  sin. 

H.  More,  The  Grand  Mystery  of  Godliness,  b.  viii.  c.  1. 

It  is  either  secret  pride,  or  base  faintness  of  heart,  or  dull  sloth,  or 
some  other  thing,  and  not  true  modesty  in  us,  if,  being  excellently 
gifted  for  some  weighty  employment  in  every  other  man's  judgment, 
we  yet  withdraw  ourselves  from  it  with  pretensions  of  unstifficiency. 

Sanderson,  Sermons,  1671,  p.  208. 


PREVARICATE,  ^  This  verb,  often  now  very  loosely 
PREVARICATION.  (  used,  had  once  a  very  definite  mean 
ing  of  its  own.  '  To  prevaricate'  is  to  betray  the 
cause  which  one  affects  to  sustain,  and,  so  far  as  I 
know,  is  always  so  used  by  our  early  writers.  We 
have  inherited  the  word  from  the  Latin  law-courts, 
which  borrowed  it  from  the  life.  The  '  prevaricator' 
being  one  who  halted  on  two  unequal  legs,  the  name 
was  transferred  to  him  who,  affecting  to  prosecute  a 
charge,  wtfs  in  secret  collusion  with  the  opposite  party, 
and  so  managed  the  cause  as  to  ensure  his  escape. 
Observe  in  the  two  following  passages  the  accuracy 
of  use  which  so  habitually  distinguishes  our  writers 
of  the  seventeenth  century  as  compared  with  too  many 
of  the  nineteenth. 

I  proceed  now  to  do  the  same  service  for  the  divines  of  England ; 
whom  you  question  first  in  point  of  learning  and  sufficiency,  and  then 
in  point  of  conscience  and  honesty,  as  prevaricating  in  the  religion 
which  they  possess,  and  inclining  to  Popery. 

Cbillingworth,  The  Religion  of  Protestants,  Preface,  p.  11. 


PREVARICATE — PREVENT.  159 

If  we  be  not  all  enemies  to  God  in  this  kind  [in  a  direct  opposi 
tion],  yet  in  adhering  to  the  enemy  we  are  enemies;  in  our  prevarica 
tions,  and  easy  betravings  and  surrendering  of  ourselves  to  the  enemy 
of  his  kingdom,  Satan,  we  are  his  enemies. 

Donne,  Sermon  7,  On  the  Nativity. 


PREVENT.  One  may  reach  a  point  before  another  to 
help  or  to  hinder  him  there  ;  may  anticipate  his  arri 
val  either  with  the  purpose  of  keeping  it  for  him,  or 
keeping  it  against  him.  <  To  prevent'  has  slipped  by 
very  gradual  degrees,  which  it  would  not  be  difficult 
to  trace,  from  the  sense  of  keeping  for  to  that  of  keep 
ing  against,  from  the  sense  of  arriving  first  with  the 
intention  of  helping,  to  that  of  arriving  first  with  the 
intention  of  hindering,  and  then  generally  from  help 
ing  to  hindering. 

So  it  is,  that  if  Titus  had  not  prevented  the  whole  multitude  of 
people  which  came  to  see  him,  and  if  he  had  not  got  him  away  be 
times,  before  the  games  were  ended,  he  had  hardly  escaped  from  being 

stifled  amongst  them. 

North,  Plutarch's  Lives,  p.  321. 

Gentlemen  that  were  brought  low,  not  by  their  vices,  but  by  mis 
fortune,  poveri  vergognosi  as  the  Tuscan  calls  them,  bashful,  and  could 
not  crave  though  they  perished,  he  prevented  their  modesty,  and  would 
heartily  thank  those  that  discovered  their  commiserable  condition  to 

him. 

Hacket,  The  Life  of  Archbishop  Williams,  part  i.  p.  201. 

There  he  beheld  how  humbly  diligent 

New  Adulation  was  to  be  at  hand  ; 

How  ready  Falsehood  stept;  how  nimbly  went 

Base  pick-thank  Flattery,  and  prevents  command. 

Daniel,  Civil  Wars,  b.  ii.  st.  56. 


160  PRODIGIOUS — PROMOTE. 

PRODIGIOUS.  This  notes  little  now  but  magnitude. 
Truer  to  its  etymology  once  ('  prodigium'  =  '  pro- 
dicium,'  and  that  from  '  prodico'),  it  signified  the 
ominous,  or  ominously  prophetic. 

Blood  shall  put  out  your  torches,  and  instead 
Of  gaudy  flowers  about  your  wanton  necks, 
An  axe  shall  hang,  like  a  prodigious  meteor, 
Ready  to  crop  your  loves'  sweets. 

Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  Philastcr,  Act  v.  Sc.  1. 

Without  this  comely  ornament  of  hair,  their  [women's]  most  glo 
rious  beauty  appears  as  deformed,  as  the  sun  would  be  prodigious 
without  beams. 

Fuller,  The  Profane  State,  b.  v.  c.  5. 

I  began  to  reflect  on  the  whole  life  of  this  prodigious  man. 

Cowley,  On  the  Government  of  Oliver  Cromwell. 


PROMOTE.  ^  4  To  promote,'  that  is,  to  further  or  set 
PROMOTER,    >  forward,  a  i  promoter,'  a  furtherer,  are 
PROMOTION.  J  now  words  of  harmless,  often  of  quite 
an  honorable,  signification.     They  were  once  terms 
of  extremes!  scorn  ;  a  '  promoter'  being  a  common  in 
former,  and  so  called  because  he  '  promoted'  charges 
and  accusations  against  men  (promoter  litium  :  Skin 
ner). 

Thou  Linus,  that  lov'st  still  to  be  promoting, 
Because  I  sport  about  King  Henry's  marriage, 
Think'st  this  will  prove  a  matter  worth  the  carriage. 

Sir  J.  Harington,  Epigrams,  ii.  98. 

Aristogiton  the  sycophant,  or  false  projuotor,  was  condemned  to 
death  for  troubling  men  with  wrongful  imputations. 

Holland,  Plutarch's  Morals,  p.  421. 


PROMOTE — PROSE.  161 

His  eyes  be  promoters,  some  trespass  to  spy. 

Tusser,  Description  of  an  envious  and  haughty  Neighbour. 

Promoters  be  those  which  in  popular  and  penal  actions  do  defer  the 
names  or  complain  of  offenders,  having  part  of  the  profit  for  their  re 
ward. 

Cowell,  The  Interpreter,  1637. 

Covetousness  and  promotion  and  such  like  are  that  right  hand  and 
right  eye  which  must  be  cut  off  and  plucked  out,  that  the  whole  man 

perish  not. 

Tyndale,  Exposition  of  the  Sixth  Chap,  of  Matthew. 

PROPRIETY.  All ;  propriety'  is  now  mental  or  moral ; 
where  material  things  are  concerned,  i  property'  is  the 
word  which  we  use.  It  needs  hardly  to  say  that '  pro 
priety'  and  i  property'  were  at  the  first  no  more  than 
different  spellings  or  slightly  different  forms  of  one 
and  the  same  word ;  which  now,  however,  have  been 
thus  usefully  desynonymized. 

He  provides  good  bounds  and  sufficient  fences  betwixt  his  own  and 
his  master's  estate  (Jacob,  Gen.  xxx.  36,  set  his  flock  three  days' 
journey  from  Laban's),  that  no  quarrel  may  arise  about  their  pro 
priety,  nor  suspicion  that  his  remnant  hath  eaten  up  his  master's 

•whole  cloth. 

Fuller,  The  Holy  State,  b.  i.  c.  8. 

Hail,  wedded  love,  mysterious  law,  true  source 
Of  human  offspring,  sole  propriety 
In  Paradise  of  all  things  common  else. 

Milton,  Paradise  Lost,  b.  v. 

PROSE,  1  l  To  prose'  is  now  to  talk  or  to  write 
PROSER.  )  heavily,  tediously,  without  spirit  and  with 
out  animation  ;  but  '  to  prose  was  once  the  antithesis 
of  to  versify,  and  a  '  proser'  of  a  writer  in  metre. 


162  PROSE — PUNCTUAL. 

In  the  tacit  assumption  that  vigor,  animation,  rapid 
movement,  with  all  the  precipitation  of  the  spirit,  be 
long  to  verse  rather  than  to  prose,  lies  the  explana 
tion  of  the  changed  uses  of  the  words. 

It  was  found  that  whether  ought  was  imposed  me  by  them  that  had 
the  overlooking,  or  betaken  to  of  mine  own  choice  in  English  or  other 
tongue,  prosing  or  versing,  but  chiefly  this  latter,  the  style,  by  certain 
vital  signs  it  had,  was  likely  to  live. 

Milton,  T/ic  Reason  of  Church  Government,  b.  ii. 

And  surely  Nash,  though  he  a  proser  were, 
A  branch  of  laurel  yet  deserves  to  bear. 

Drayton,  On  Poets  and  Poesy. 

PRUNE.  At  present  we  only  c  prune'  trees  ;  but  our 
earlier  authors  use  the  word  where  we  should  use 
'  preen,'  which  indeed  is  but  another  form  of  the  word  ; 
nay,  with  a  wider  signification  ;  for  with  us  only  birds 
4  preen'  their  feathers,  while  women,  as  in  the  example 
which  follows,  might  '  prune'  themselves  of  old. 

A  husband  that  loveth  to  trim  and  pamper  his  bodv,  rauscth  his 
wife  by  that  means  to  study  nothing  else  but  the  tricking  and  pruning 

of  herself. 

Holland,  Plutarch's  Morals,  p.  .318. 

PUNCTUAL,  |  Restricted  now  to  the  accurate  ob- 

PUNCTUALLY.  j   serving  of  fixed  points  of  time.     It 

had  once  a  wider  use  ;  a  '  punctual'  narration  being  a 

narration  which  entered  into  minuter  points  of  detail. 

Truly  I  thought  I  could  not  be  too  punctual  in  describing  the  ani 
mal  life,  it  being  so  serviceable  for  our  better  understanding  the  divine. 
II.  More,  The  Grand  Mystery  of  Godliness,  Preface,  p.  x. 


PUNCTUAL — PURSUER.  163 

All  curious   solicitude  about  riches  smells  of  avarice;   even  the 
very  disposing  of  it  with  a  too  punctual  and  artificial  liberality  is  not 

worth  a  painful  solicitude. 

Cotton,  Montaigne's  Essays,  b.  iii.  c.  9. 

Every  one  is  to  give  a  reason  of  his  faith ;  but  priests  or  ministers 
more  punctually  than  any. 

H.  More,  The  Grand  Mystery  of  Godliness,  b.  x.  c.  12. 


PUNY.  The  present  use  of  '  puny,'  as  that  which 
is  at  once  weak  and  small,  is  only  secondary  and  in 
ferential.  '  Puny'  or  '  puisne'  (puis  ne)  is  born  after 
another,  therefore  younger  ;  and  only  by  inference 
smaller  and  weaker. 

It  were  a  sign  of  ignorant  arrogancy,  if  punies  or  freshmen  should 
reject  the  axioms  and  principles  of  Aristotle,  usual  in  the  schools,  be 
cause  they  have  some  reasons  against  them  which  themselves  cannot 

answer. 

Jackson,  The  Eternal  Truth  of  Scriptures,  c.  i. 

[The  worthy  soldier]  had  rather  others  should  make  a  ladder  of 
his  dead  corpse  to  scale  a  city  by  it,  than  a  bridge  of  him  whilst  alive 
for  his  punies  to  give  him  the  go-by,  and  pass  over  him  to  preferment. 

Fuller,  The  Holy  State,  b.  iv.  c.  17. 

He  is  dead  and  buried,  and  by  this  time  no  puny  among  the  mighty 

nations  of  the  dead  ;  for  though  he  left  this  world  not  very  many  days 

past,  yet  every  hour,  you  know,  addeth  largely  unto  that  dark  society. 

Sir  T.  Browne,  Letter  to  a  Friend,  p.  1. 


PURSUER.  '  Pursue'  and  i  pursuer'  are  older  words 
in  the  language  than  '  persecute'  and  '  persecutor' — 
earlier  adoptions  of  '  persequor'  and  '  persecutor,'  and 
not,  as  these  last,  immediately  from  the  Latin.  Be- 


164  PURSUER — QUAINT. 

side  the  meaning  which  they  still  retain,  they  once 
also  covered  the  meanings  which  these  later  words 
have,  since  their  introduction,  appropriated  as  exclu 
sively  their  own. 

I  first  was  a  blasphemer  and  pursuwer. 

1  Tim.  i.  13.  Wiclif. 

If  God  leave  them  in  this  hardness  of  heart,  they  may  prove  as 
desperate  opposites  and  pursuers  of  all  grace,  of  Christ  and  Christians, 
as  the  most  horrible  open  swine,  as  we  see  in  Saul  and  Julian. 

Rogers,  2\Taa»ian  the  Syrian,  p.  106. 


Q. 

QUAINT,  |  In  i  quaint,'  which  is  the  Latin  '  comp- 
QUAINTLY.  j  tus,'  there  lies  always  now  the  notion 
of  a  certain  curiosity  and  oddness,  however  these  may 
be  subordinated  to  ends  of  beauty  and  grace,  and  in 
deed  may  themselves  be  made  to  contribute  to  these 
ends  ;  but  all  this  is  of  late  introduction  into  the  word, 
which  had  once  simply  the  meaning  of  elegant,  grace 
ful,  skilful,  subtle. 

O  brotel  joye,  0  swete  poison  queinte, 
O  monstre  that  so  sotilly  canst  peinte 
Thy  giftes,  under  hewe  of  stcdfastness, 
That  thou  deceives!  bothe  more  and  less. 

Chaucer,  The  Merchantes  Tale. 

But  you,  my  lord,  were  glad  to  be  employed 
To  show  how  quaint  an  orator  vou  are. 

Shakespeare,  2  Henry  VI.,  Act  iii.  Sc.  2. 


QUAINT — RAISIN.  165 

Whom  evere  I  schal  kisse,  he  it  is ;  holdc  ye  him,  and  lede  ye 

warli,  or  queyntly. 

Mark  xiv.  44.  Wiclif. 

A  ladder  quaintly  made  of  cords. 

Shakespeare,  The  Two  Gentlemen  of  Verona,  Act  iii.  Sc.  1. 


QUERULOUS.  Not  once,  as  now,  complaining,  but 
quarrelsome.  As  there  is  no  '  querulosus'  in  Latin,  I 
am  inclined  to  think  that  '  quarrellous'  was  the  earlier 
form,  though  I  do  not  remember  to  have  met  it. 

There  inhabit  these  regions  a  kind  of  people,  rude,  warlike,  ready 
to  fight,  querulous,  and  mischievous. 

Holland,  Camden's  Scotland,  p.  39. 


R. 

RACE.  *  Racy'  still  exists  as  an  epithet  applied  to 
that  which,  growing  out  of  a  strong  and  vigorous 
root,  tastes  of  that  root  out  of  which  it  grows ;  but 
'  race,'  in  the  sense  of  root  imparting  these  qualities, 
is  not  any  longer  in  use. 

I  think  the  Epistles  of  Phalaris  to  have  more  race,  more  spirit, 
more  force  of  wit  and  genins,  than  any  other  I  have  ever  seen,  either 

ancient  or  modern. 

Sir  William  Temple,  Works,  vol.  iii.  p.  463. 

RAISIN.  It  is  conveniently  agreed  now  that  c  raisin' 
shall  be  employed  only  of  the  dried  grape,  but  this 
does  not  lie  in  '  racemus,'  from  which  it  is  descended, 


166  RAISIX RECOGNIZE. 

nor  yet  in  its  earlier  uses  ;  indeed,  "  raisins  of  the  sun" 
(Sir  J.  Harington)  was  the  phrase  commonly  em 
ployed  when  our  dried  fruit  was  intended. 

Nether  in  the  vyneycrd  thou  schalt  gadere  rei/syns  and  groynes 
fallynge  doun,  but  thou  schalt  leeve  to  be  gaderid  of  pore  men  and 
pilgryms. 

Lev.  xix.  10.  Wiclif. 


RATHER.  This  survives  for  us  now  only  as  an  ad 
verb,  that  part  of  speech  to  which  so  many  others 
seem  to  tend  ;  but  meets  us  often  in  old  English  in 
its  prior  form,  that  is,  as  an  adjective  ;  being  properly 
the  comparative  of  '  rathe,1  a  synonym  for  early. 

This  is  he  that  I  seide  of,  aftir  me  is  comen  a  man,  whiche  was 
made  bifor  me,  for  he  was  rather  than  I  [quiapr/or  me  erat,  Vulg.]. 

John  i.  30.  Wiclif. 

If  the  world  hatith  you,  wite  ye  that  it  hadde  me  in  hate  rather 
than  you  [me  priorem  vobis  odio  habuit,  Vulg.]. 

John  xv.  18.  Wiclif. 

Whatsoever  thou  or  such  other  say,  I  say  that  the  pilgrimage  that 
now  is  used  is  to  them  that  do  it,  a  praiseable  and  a  good  mean  to 
come  the  rather  to  grace. 

Foxe,  Book  of  Martyrs ;  Examination  of  William  Thorpe. 

The  rather  lambs  been  starved  with  cold. 

Spenser,  The  Shepherd's  Calendar,  February. 


RECOGNIZE.  This  verb  means  now  to  revive  our 
knowledge  of  a  person  or  thing—  and  nothing  more. 
But  in  earlier  usage  there  was  something  further  im- 


RECOGNIZE — REDUCE.  167 

ported  into  it.  It  was  to  revive  this  knowledge  with 
a  purpose  —  as  in  the  passage  below,  with  the  purpose 
of  revision. 

In  recognizing  this  history  I  have  employed  a  little  more  labour,  part 
ly  to  enlarge  the  argument  which  I  took  in  hand,  partly  also  to  assay, 
whether  by  any  painstaking  I  might  pacify  the  stomachs,  or  to  satisfy 
the  judgments  of  these  importune  qtiarrellers. 

Foxe,  The  Book  of  Martyrs;  Epistle  Dedicatory  [of  the  Second 
Edition}  to  the  Queen's  Majesty. 


REDUCE.  That  which  is  c  reduced*  now  is  brought 
back  to  narrower  limits,  or  lower  terms,  or  more  sub 
ject  conditions,  than  those  under  which  it  subsisted 
before.  But  nothing  of  this  lies  of  necessity  in  the 
word,  nor  yet  in  the  earlier  uses  of  it.  According  to 
these  that  was  '  reduced'  which  was  brought  back  to 
its  former  estate,  an  estate  that  might  be,  and  in  all 
the  following  examples  is,  an  ampler,  larger,  or  more 
prosperous  one  than  that  which  it  superseded. 

The  drift  of  the  Roman  armies  and  forces  was  not  to  bring  free 
states  into  servitude,  but  contrariwise,  to  reduce  those  that  were  in 
bondage  to  liberty. 

Holland,  Livy,  p.  1211. 

There  remained  only  Britain  [i.  e.  Brittany]  to  be  reunited,  and  so 

the  monarchy  of  France  to  be  reduced  to  the  ancient  terms  and  bounds. 

Bacon,  The  History  of  King  Henry  VII. 

That  He  might  have  these  keys  to  open  the  heavenly  Hades  to 
reduced  apostates,  to  penitent,  believing,  self-devoting  sinners,  for  this 
it  was  necessary  He  should  put  on  man,  become  obedient  to  death, 
even  that  servile  punishment,  the  death  of  the  cross. 

Howe,  The  Redeemer's  Dominion  over  the  Invisible  World. 


168  RELIGION — REMONSTRATE. 

RELIGION.  Not,  as  too  often  now,  used  as  equivalent 
for  godliness ;  but  like  fy^rfxeia,  for  which  it  stands 
Jam.  i.  27,  it  expressed  the  outer  form  and  embodi 
ment  which  the  inward  spirit  of  a  true  or  a  false  de 
votion  assumed. 

We  would  admit  and  grant  them,  that  images  used  for  no  religion, 
or  superstition  rather,  we  mean  of  none  worshipped,  nor  in  danger  to 
be  worshipped  of  any,  may  be  suffered. 

Homilies;  Sermon  against  Peril  of  Idolatry. 

By  falsities  and  lies  the  greatest  part 
Of  mankind  they  corrupted  to  forsake 
God  their  Creator,  and  the  invisible 
Glory  of  Him  that  made  them  to  transform 
Oft  to  the  image  of  a  brute,  adorned 
With  gay  religions  full  of  pomp  and  gold. 

Milton,  Paradise  Lost,  b.  i. 

REMONSTRATE,  )  Its  present  sense,  namely,  to  ex- 
REMONSTRANCE.  j  postulate,  was  only  at  a  very  late 
date  superinduced  on  the  word.  t  To  remonstrate'  is 
properly  to  make  any  representation  in  regard  to  some 
step  that  has  been  taken.  It  is  now  only  such  show 
or  representation  as  protests  against  this  step  ;  and 
always  assumes  this  step  to  have  been  distasteful :  but 
this  limitation  lies  not  of  necessity  in  the  word ;  nor 
did  it  lie  in  its  earlier  uses. 

Properties  of  a  faithful  servant :  a  sedulous  eye,  to  observe  all  occa 
sions  within  or  without,  tending  to  remonstrate  the  habit  within. 

Kogers,  Naaman  the  Syrian,  p.  309. 

When  Sir  Francis  Cottington  returned  with  our  king's  oath, 
plighted  to  the  annexed  conditions  for  the  ease  of  the  Roman  Catho- 


REMONSTRATE — REMORSE.  169 

lies,  the  Spaniards  made  no  remonstrance  of  joy,  or  of  an  ordinary 

liking  to  it. 

Racket,  The  Life  of  Archbishop  Williams,  part  i.  p.  145. 


REMORSE.  In  the  single  phrase  "without  remorse," 
as  in  <  remorseless,'  we  still  retain  a  sense  of  '  remorse' 
which  otherwise  has  quite  passed  away  from  it ;  em 
ploying  it  as  equivalent  with  pity.  It  was  thus,  as  I 
am  inclined  to  think,  that  the  word  acquired  this 
meaning.  There  is  nothing  which  is  followed  in  na 
tures  not  absolutely  devilish  with  so  swift  revulsion 
of  mind  as  acts  of  cruelty.  No  where  does  the  con 
science  so  quickly  remord,  if  one  may  use  the  word, 
the  guilty  actor  as  in  and  after  these  ;*  and  thus  i  re 
morse,'  which  is  the  penitence  of  the  natural  man, 

*  A  passage  of  wonderful  beauty  in  one  of  the  Scotch  ballads  ex 
emplifies  what  is  said  above.  The  Gordon  has  surrounded  and  set  fire 
to  the  castle  of  an  enemy.  The  daughter,  as  a  last  hope  of  escape,  is 
let  down  from  the  wall : — 

They  rowd  her  in  a  pair  of  sheets, 

And  towd  her  owre  the  wa' ; 
But  on  the  point  of  Gordon's  spear 

She  gat  a  deadly  fa'. 

Then  wi'  his  spear  he  turned  her  owre, 

0,  gin  her  face  was  wan  ! 
He  said,  "  Ye  are  the  first  that  eir 

I  wished  alive  again." 

He  turned  her  owre  and  owre  again, 

Oh,  gin  her  face  was  white ! 
"  I  might  ha*  spared  that  bonnie  face 

To  hae  bin  some  man's  delight  \" 

8 


170  REMORSE — RESENT. 

the  penitence  not  wrought  by  the  spirit  of  grace, 
while  it  means  the  revulsion  of  the  mind  and  con 
science  against  any  evil  which  has  been  done,  came  to 
mean  predominantly  revulsion  against  acts  of  cruelty, 
the  pity  which  followed  close  on  these  ;  and  thus  pity 
in  general,  and  not  only  as  in  this  way  called  out. 

King  Richard  bv  his  own  experience  grew  sensible  of  the  miseries 
which  merchants  and  mariners  at  sea  underwent.  Wherefore,  now 
touched  with  remorse  of  their  pitiful  case,  he  resolved  to  revoke  the 

law  of  wrecks. 

Fuller,  The  Holy  War,  b.  iii.  c.  7. 

His  helmet,  justice,  judgment,  and  remorse. 

Middle  ton,  The  Wisdom  of  Solomon,  e.  v.  17. 


RESENT,  ")  When  first  introduced  into  the  lan- 
RESENTMENT.  J  guage  (this  was  in  the  seventeenth 
century;  c  vox  nova  in  nostra  lingmi ;'  Jnnius),  'to 
resent'  meant  to  have  a  sense  or  feeling  of  that  which 
had  been  done  to  us,  but  whether  a  sense  of  gratitude 
for  the  good,  or  of  enmity  for  the  evil,  the  word  it 
self  said  nothing,  and  was  employed  in  both  meanings. 
Must  we  gather  from  the  fact  that  the  latter  is  now 
the  exclusive  employment  of  it,  that  our  sense  of  in 
juries  is  much  stronger  and  more  lasting  than  our 
sense  of  benefits  ? 

'Tis  by  my  touch  alone  that  you  resent 
What  objects  yield  delight,  what  discontent. 

Beaumont,  Psyche,  can.  iv.  st.  156. 

Perchance  as  vultures  are  snid  to  smell  the  earthliness  of  a  dying 
corpse;  so  this  bird  of  prey  [the  evil  Spirit  which  personated  Samuel] 


RESENT — RESTIVE.  171 

resented  a  worse  than  earthly  savour  in  the  soul  of  Saul,  an  evidence 
of  his  death  at  hand. 

Fuller,  The  Profane  State,  b.  v.  c.  4. 

The  judicious  palate  will  prefer  a  drop  of  the  sincere  milk  of  the 
word  before  vessels  full  of  traditionary  pottage,  resenting  of  the  wild, 
gourd  of  human  invention. 

Id.,  A  Pisgah  Sight  of  Palestine,  b.  iii.  c.  1. 

Sadness  does  in  some  cases  become  a  Christian,  as  being  an  index 
of  a  pious  mind,  of  compassion,  and  a  wise,  proper  resentment  of  things. 

J.  Taylor,  Sermon  23,  part  ii. 

The  Council  taking  notice  of  the  many  good  services  performed 
by  Mr.  John  Milton,  their  Secretary  for  foreign  languages,  particu 
larly  f-r  his  book  in  A'indication  of  the  Parliament  and  people  of  Eng 
land  against  the  calumnies  and  invectives  of  Salmasius,  have  thought 
fit  to  declare  their  resentment  and  good  acceptance  of  the  same,  and 
that  the  thanks  of  the  Council  be  returned  to  Mr.  Milton. 

Extract  from  "  The  Council-Book,"  1651,  June  18. 


RESTIVE,  1  Any  one  now  invited  to  define  a 
RESTIVENESS.  )  '  restive'  horse  would  certainly  put 
into  his  definition  that  it  was  one  with  too  much  mo 
tion  ;  but  in  obedience  to  its  etymology  'restive'  would 
have  once  meant  one  with  too  little  ;  determined  to 
continue  at  rest  when  it  ought  to  go  forward.  Immo 
bile,  lazy,  stubborn,  are  the  three  stages  of  meaning 
which  the  word  went  through,  before  it  reached  its 
fourth  and  present. 

Bishops  or  presbyters  we  know,  and  deacons  we  know,  but  what 
are  chaplains  ?  In  state  perhaps  they  may  be  listed  among  the  upper 
serving-men  of  some  great  man's  household,  the  yeomen  ushers  of  de 
votion,  where  the  master  is  too  resty  or  too  rich  to  say  his  own  prayers, 

or  to  bless  his  own  table. 

Milton,  Iconoclasts,  c.  xxiv. 


172  RESTIVE — RIG. 

Restive,  or  Rcsty,  drawing  back  instead  of  going  forward,  as  some 
horses  do. 

Phillips,  The  Xew  World  of  Words. 

Nothing  hindereth  men's  fortunes  so  much  as  this  :  Idem  mancbat, 
neque  idem  decebat;  men  are  where  they  were,  when  occasions  turn. 
.  .  .  From  whatsoever  root  or  cause  this  restiveness  of  mind  proceed- 
eth,  it  is  a  thing  most  prejudicial. 

Bacon,  The  Advancement  of  Learning,  b.  ii. 

The  snake,  by  restiness  and  lying  still  all  winter,  hath  a  certain 
membrane  or  film  growing  over  the  whole  body. 

Holland,  Pliny,  part  i.  p.  210. 


RETALIATE,  1  It  has  fared  with  '  retaliate'  and  *  re- 

RETALIATION.  j  taliation'  as  it  has  with  '  resent1  and 

4  resentment,'  that  whereas  men  could  once  speak  of 

the  '  retaliation'  of  benefits  as  well  as  of  wrongs,  they 

only  '  retaliate'  injuries  now. 

Our  captain  would  not  salute  the  city,  except  they  would  retaliate. 
Diary  of  Henry  Teonge,  Aug.  1,  1675. 

[The  king]  expects  a  return  in  specie  from  them  [the  Dissenters], 
that  the  kindness  which  he  has  graciously  shown  them  may  be  retali 
ated  on  those  of  his  own  persuasion. 

Dryden,  Preface  to  The  Hind  and  the  Panther. 

His  majesty  caused  directions  to  be  sent  for  the  enlargement  of  the 
Roman  priests,  in  retaliation  for  the  prisoners  that  were  set  at  liberty 
in  Spain  to  congratulate  the  prince's  welcome. 

Hacket,  The  Life  of  Archbishop  Williams,  part  i.  p.  166. 

RIG.  A  somewhat  vulgar  word,  with  the  present 
use  of  which,  however,  we  are  probably  all  familiar 
from  its  occurrence  in  John  Gi/pin : — 


RIG RUFFIAN.  173 

"  He  little  guessed  when  he  set  out 

Of  running  such  a  rt</." 

n 

But  a  '  rig'  in  its  earlier  use  was  not  so  often  a 
strange  uncomely  feat,  as  a  wanton  uncomely  person. 

Let  none  condemn  them  [the  girls]  for  rigs  because  thus  hoyting 
with  the  boys,  seeing  the  simplicity  of  their  age  was  a  patent  to  privi 
lege  any  innocent  pastime. 

Fuller,  A  Pisgah  Sight  of  Palestine,  b.  iv.  c.  6. 


ROOM.  In  certain  connections  we  still  employ 
1  room'  for  place,  but  in  many  more,  having  this  mean 
ing  once,  it  has  it  no  longer.  Thus  the  reader  who 
accepts  the  words  of  our  Authorized  Version,  "  When 
thou  art  bidden  of  any  man  to  a  wedding,  sit  not  do\vn 
in  the  highest  room"  (Luke  xiv.  8),  according  to  the 
present  use  of  '  room'  may  easily  fall  into  a  slight 
misunderstanding,  and  imagine  to  himself  guests  as 
sembling  in  various  apartments,  some  more  honorable 
than  other ;  and  not,  as  indeed  the  meaning  is.  taking 
higher  or  lower  places  at  one  and  the  same  table. 

Is  Clarence,  Henry,  and  his  son,  young  Edward, 
And  all  the  unlooked-for  issue  of  their  bodies, 
To  take  their  rooms,  ere  I  can  place  myself? 

Shakespeare,  3  Henry  VI.,  Act  iii.  Sc.  2. 

If  he  have  but  twelve  pence  in's  purse,  he  will  give  it  for  the  best 
room  in  a  playhouse. 

Sir  T.  Overbury,  Characters:  A  Proud  Man. 

RUFFIAN,  )  The   Italian    '  ruffiano,'    the    Spanish 
RUFFIANLY,  j  '  rufian,'  the  French  ;  ruffien,'  all  signi- 


174  RUFFIAN — RUMMAGE. 

fy  the  setter-forward  of  an  infamous  traffic  between 
the,sexes  ;  nor  will  the  passages  quoted  below  leave 
any  doubt  that  this  is  the  proper  meaning  of  '  ruffian' 
in  English,  others  being  secondary  and  derived  from 
it.  At  the  same  time  the  '  ruffian'  is  not  merely  the 
1  leno,'  he  is  the  '  amasius'  as  well ;  and  the  frequent 
allusions  to  long  and  elaborately  curled  hair  which  go 
along  with  the  word  make  one  suspect  a  connection 
with  the  Spanish  '  rufo,'  not  as  it  means  red,  but  crisp 
or  curled.  On  the  possible  derivations  see  Diez, 
Roman.  Spr.  p.  299. 

Our  English  ruffians  are  metamorphosed  into  women  in  their  de 
formed  grizzled  locks  and  hair. 

Prynnc,  Histriomastix,  b.  i. 

A  bawd's  furniture,  the  first  a  stout  ruffian  to  guard  her. 

Holland's  Leaguer,  1632,  no  pagination. 

He  [her  husband]  is  no  sooner  abroad  than  she  is  instantly  at 
home,  revelling  with  her  ruffians. 

Reynolds,  God's  Revenge  against  Murder,  b.  iii.  hist.  11. 

Who  in  London  hath  not  heard  of  his  [Greene's]  dissolute  and 
licentious  living;  his  fond  disguising  of  a  Master  of  Art  with  ruffianly 
hair,  unseemly  apparel,  and  more  unseemly  company? 

G.  Harvey,  Four  Letters  touching  Robert  Greene,  p.  7. 

Some  frenchified  or  outlandish  monsieur,  who  hath  nothing  else  to 
make  him  famous,  I  should  say  infamous,  but  an  effeminate,  ruffianly, 
ugly,  and  deformed  lock. 

1'rynne,  The  Unloveliness  of  Love-Locks,  p.  27. 

RUMMAGE.  This  means  at  present  in  the  looking 
for  one  thing  to  overturn  and  unsettle  a  great  many 
others.  It  is  a  sea-term,  and  signified  at  first  to  dis- 


RUMMAGE — SAD.  175 

pose  with  such  orderly  method  goods  in  the  hold  of  a 
ship  that  there  should  be  the  greatest  possible  room, 
or  '  roomage.'  The  quotation  from  Phillips  shows  the 
word  in  the  act  of  transition  from  its  former  use  to 
its  present. 

And  that  the  masters  of  die  ships  do  look  wi-Il  to  the  romaging,  for 
they  might  bring  away  a  great  deal  more  than  they  do,  if  they  would 

take  pain  in  the  romafjiny. 

Ilackluyt,  Voyages,  vol.  i.  p.  308. 

To  rummage  (sea-term)  :  To  remove  any  floods  or  luggage  from 
one  place  to  another,  especially  to  clear  the  ship's  hold  of  any  goods 
or  lading,  in  order  to  their  heing  handsomely  stowed  and  placed ; 
whence  the  word  is  used  upon  other  occasions,  for  to  rake  into,  or  to 

search  narrowly. 

Phillips,  The  Ntw  World  of  Words. 


s. 

SAD,      "|  This  had  once  the  meaning  of  earnest, 

SADLY,     >  serious,  sedate,  '  set,'  this  last  being  only 

SADNESS.  )  another  form   of  the   same  word.     The 

passage  from  Shakespeare  quoted  below  marks  '  sadly' 

and  '  sadness'  in  their  transitional  state  from  the  old 

meaning  to  the  new  ;  Benvolio  using  4  sadness'  in  the 

old  sense,  Romeo  pretending  to  understand  him  in  the 

new. 

O  dere  wif,  o  gemme  of  lustyhede, 

That  were  to  me  so  sade,  and  eke  so  trewe. 

Chaucer,  The  Manciple*  Tale. 

He  may  have  one  year,  or  two  at  the  most,  an  ancient  and  sad 

matron  attending  on  him. 

Sir  T.  Elyot,  The  Governor,  b.  i.  c.  6. 


176  SAD — SASH. 

For  when  I  think  how  far  this  earth  doth  us  divide, 

Alas,  meseems,  love  throws  me  down ;  I  feel  how  that  I  slide. 

But  then  I  think  again,  Why  should  I  thus  mistrust 

So  sweet  a  wight,  so  sad  and  wise,  that  is  so  true  and  just  ? 

Surrey,  The  Faithful  Lover. 

In  go  the  speres  sadly  in  the  rest. 

Chaucer,  The  Knightes  Tale. 

Therefor  ye,  britheren,  bifor  witynge  kepe  you  silf,  lest  ye  be  dis- 
sey ved  hi  errour  of  unwise  men,  and  falle  awei  fro  youre  owne  sadness 

[a  propria,  firmitate  Vulg.]. 

2  Pet.  iii.  17.  Wiclif. 

Ben.  Tell  me  in  sadness  who  she  is  you  love  ? 
Rom.  What,  shall  I  groan,  and  tell  you  ? 
Ben.  Groan  ?  why,  no  ; 

But  sadly  tell  me  who  ? 

Shakespeare,  Romeo  and  Juliet,  Act  i.  Sc.  1. 


SASH.  At  present  always  a  belt  or  girdle  of  the 
loins  ;  not  so,  however,  when  first  introduced  from  the 
East.  By  the  4  sash,'  or  '  shash'  as  it  was  then  always 
spelt,  was  understood  the  roll  of  silk,  fine  linen,  or 
gauze,  worn  about  the  head ;  in  fact  a  turban. 


Shash:  Cidaris  seu  tiara,  pileus,  Turcicus,  ut  Doct.  Th.  H.  placet, 
ab  It.  Sessa,  gausapina  cujus  involucris  Turca?  pileos  suos  adornnnt. 

Skinner,  Etymologicon. 

So  much  for  the  silk  in  Judea,  called  Shesh  in  Hebrew,  whence 
haply  that  fine  linen  or  silk  is  called  shashes,  worn  at  this  day  about 
the  heads  of  eastern  people. 

Fuller,  .-1  Pisgah  Sight  of  Palestine,  b.  ii.  c.  14. 

He  [a  Persian  merchant]  was  apparelled  in  a  long  robe  of  cloth  of 


SASH — SECURE.  177 

gold,  liis  head  was  wreathed  with  a  huge  shash  or  tulipant  of  silk  and 

gold. 

Thomas  Herbert,  Travels  into  divers  parts  of  Asia  and  Afriqne, 

1638,  p.  191. 


SECURE,  )  In  our  present  English  the  difference 
SECURITY,  j  between  '  safe'  and  '  secure'  is  hardly 
recognized,  but  once  it  was  otherwise.  '  Secure' 
('  securus'  =  sine  cura)  was  subjective  ;  it  was  a 
man's  own  sense,  well  grounded  or  not,  of  the  absence 
of  danger  ;  safe  was  objective,  the  actual  fact  of  such 
absence  of  danger.  A  man,  therefore,  might  not  be 
1  safe,'  just  because  he  was  i  secure'  (thus  see  Judges 
xviii.  7,  10,  27,  Authorized  Version).  I  may  observe 
that  our  use  of  i  secure'  at  Matt,  xxviii.  14,  is  in  fact 
this  early,  though  we  may  easily  read  the  passage  as 
though  it  were  employed  in  the  modern  sense.  "  We 
will  secure  you,"  of  our  Version  represents  d 
of  the  original. 


We  cannot  endure  to  be  disturbed  or  awakened  from  our  pleasing 
lethargy.     For  we  care  not  to  be  safe,  but  to  be  secure. 

J.  Taylor,  Of  Slander  and  Flattery. 

They  [wicked  men]  are  not  secure,  even  when  they  are  safe. 

Id.,  Apples  of  Sodom. 

He  means,  my  lord,  that  we  are  too  remiss, 

While  Bolingbroke,  through  our  security, 

Grows  strong  and  great  in  substance  and  in  friends. 

Shakespeare,  King  Richard  IT.,  Act  iii.  Sc.  2. 

The  last  daughter  of  pride  is  delicacy,  under  which  is  contained 
gluttony,  luxury,  sloth,  and  security. 

Nash,  Christ's  Tears  over  Jerusalem,  p.  137. 
8* 


178  SEE SENSUAL. 

SEE.  Not  always  confined  as  now  to  the  seat  or 
residence  of  a  bishop;  nor  indeed  did  it  necessarily 
involve  the  notion  of  a  seat  of  authority  at  all. 

At  Bubiloine  was  his  soveraine  see. 

Chaucer,  The  Monkcs  Tale. 
And  small  harpers  \\  iiii  hir  uUv.s 
Sate  under  hem  in  divers  sc-c-s. 

Id.,  The.  House  of  Fame,  b.  iii. 

The  Lord  smoot  nil  the  fyrst  gotun  in  the  loond  of  Egipte,  fro  the 
fyrst  gotun  of  Pharao,  that  sat  in  his  see,  unto  the  fyrst  gotun  of  the 

caitiff  woman  that  was  in  prisoun. 

Exod.  xii.  29.  Wiclif. 

SENSUAL,  )  '  Sensual'  is  employed  now  only  in  an 
SENSUALITY,  j  ill  meaning,  and  implies  ever  a  pre 
dominance  of  sense  in  provinces  where  it  ought  not 
so  to  predominate.  Milton,  feeling  that  we  wanted 
another  word  affirming  this  predominance  where  no 
such  fault  was  implied  by  it,  and  that  '  sensual'  only 
imperfectly  expressed  this,  employed,  I  know  not 
whether  he  coined,  '  sensuous/  a  word  which,  if  it  had 
rooted  itself  in  the  language,  might  have  proved  of 
excellent  service.  '  Sensuality'  has  had  always  an  ill 
meaning,  but  at  the  same  time  it  was  not  once  the  ill 
meaning  which  it  has  now.  Any  walking  by  sense 
and  sight  rather  than  by  faith  was  « sensuality'  of  old. 

Hath  not  the  Lord  Jesus  convinced  thy  sensual  heart  bv  sensual  ar 
guments?  If  thy  sense  were  not  left-handed,  thou  mitihtest  with  thy 
right  hand  bear  down  thine  infidelity  ;  for  God  hath  given  assurance 
sufficient  by  his  Son  to  thy  very  sense,  if  tliou  wert  not  brutish  (1  John 
i.  1). 

Rogers,  Naaman  the  Syrian,  p.  493. 


SENSUAL — SHEER.  179 

He  who  might  claim  this  absolute  power  over  the  soul  to  be  be 
lieved  upon  his  bare  word,  yet  seeing  the  MMUality  of  man  and  our 
•woful  distrust,  is  willing  to  allow  us  all  the  means  of  Strengthening 
our  souls  in  his  promise,  by  such  seals  and  witnesses  as  confirm  it. 

M.,  Ib.  p.  483. 

A  great  number  of  people  in  divers  parts  of  this  realm,  following 
their  own  sensuality,  and  living  without  knowledge  and  due  fear  of 
God,  do  wilfully  and  schismatically  abstain  and  refuse  to  come  to  their 

own  parish  churches. 

Act  of  Uniformity,  1661. 


SERVILITY.  The  subjective  abjectness  and  baseness 
of  spirit  of  one  who  is  a  slave,  or  who  acts  as  one,  is 
always  implied  by  this  word  at  the  present ;  while 
once  it  did  but  express  the  objective  fact  of  an  out 
wardly  servile  condition  in  him  to  whom  it  was  as 
cribed,  leaving  it  possible  that  in  spirit  he  might  be 
free  notwithstanding. 

Such  servility  as  the  Jews  endured  under  the  Greeks  and  Asiatics, 
have  they  endured  under  the  Saracen  and  the  Turk. 

Jackson,  The  Eternal  Truth  of  Scripture,  b.  i.  c.  26. 

The  same  [faith]  inclined  Moses  to  exchange  the  dignities  and  de 
lights  of  a  court  for  a  state  of  vagrancy  and  servility. 

Barrow,  Sermon  3,  On  the  Apostles'  Creed. 


SHEER.  It  is  curious  that  Christopher  Sly's  decla 
ration  that  he  was  "  fourteen  pence  on  the  score  for 
sheer  ale"  (  Taming  of  the  Sfirew,  Induction,  Sc.  2) 
should  have  given  so  much  trouble  to  some  of  our 
early  commentators.  '  Sheer,'  which  is  pure,  unmixed, 


180  SHEER — SHREW. 

was  used  of  things  concrete  once,  but  more  of  things 
abstract  now. 

They  had  scarcely  sunk  through  the  uppermost  course  of  sand 
above,  when  they  might  see  small  sources  to  boil  up,  at  the  first 
troubled,  but  afterward  they  began  to  yield  sheer  and  clear  water  in 

great  abundance. 

Holland,  Livy,  p.  1191. 

Thou  sheer,  immaculate,  and  silver  fountain, 
From  whence  this  stream  through  muddy  passages 
Hath  held  his  current. 

Shakespeare,  King  Richard  II.,  Act  v.  Sc.  3. 

Thou  never  hadst  in  thy  house,  to  stay  men's  stomachs, 

A  piece  of  Suffolk  cheese,  or  gammen  of  bacon, 

Or  any  esculent,  but  sheer  drink  only, 

For  which  gross  fault  I  bore  do  damn  thy  license. 

Massinger,  A  New  Way  to  pay  Old  Debts,  Act  iv.  Sc.  2. 

SHELF.  i  To  shelve'  as  =  to  shoal,  still  remains ; 
but  not  so  '  shelf  as  -  shallow  or  sand-bank. 

I  thought  fit  to  follow  the  rule  of  coasting  maps,  where  the  shelves 
and  rocks  are  described  as  well  as  the  safe  channel. 

Davenant,  Preface  to  Gondibert. 

The  watchful  hero  felt  the  knocks,  and  found 
The  tossing  vessel  sailed  on  shoaly  ground. 
Sure  of  his  pilot's  loss,  he  takes  himself 
The  helm,  and  steers  aloof,  and  shuns  the  shelf. 

Drydon,  Virgil's  ^Eneid,  b.  v. 

SHREW.  There  are  at  the  present  no  '  shrews'  save 
female  ones  ;  but  the  word,  like  so  many  others  which 
we  have  met  with,  now  restrained  to  one  sex,  was 
formerly  applied  to  both.  It  conveyed  also  of  old  a 


SHREWD — SIEGE.  181 

much  deeper  moral  reprobation  than  now  or  than  in 
the  middle  English  it  did  Thus  Lucifer  is  a  '  shrew' 
in  Piers  Ploughman,  arid  two  murderers  are  '  shrews' 
in  the  quotation  from  Chaucer  which  follows. 

And  thus  accorded  ben  this  shrewes  twcye 
To  slea  the  thridde,  as  ye  han  herd  me  seyc. 

Chaucer,  The  Pardoneres  Tale. 

If  I  schal  schewe  me  innocent,  He  schal  preve  me  a  schreive  [pra- 

vnm  me  comprobabit,  Vulg.]. 

Job  ix.  20.  Wiclif. 

I  know  none  more  covetous  shreics  than  ye  are,  when  ye  have  a 
benefice. 

Foxe,  The  Book  of  Martyrs;  Examination  of  William  Thorpe. 

SHREWD,  )  The  weakness  of  the  world's  moral 
SHREWDNESS,  j  indignation  against  evil,  causes  a 
multitude  of  words  which  once  conveyed  intensest 
moral  reprobation  gradually  to  convey  none  at  all,  or 
it  may  be  even  praise.  '  Shrewd'  and  '  shrewdness' 
must  be  numbered  among  these. 

Is  he  shrewd  and  unjust  in  his  dealings  with  others? 

South,  Sermons,  1737,  vol.  vi.  p.  106. 

Forsothe  the  erthe  is  corrupt  before  God,  and  is  fulfilled  with 
schrewdnes  [iniquitate,  Vulg.]. 

Gen.  vi.  12.  Wiclif. 

The  prophete  saith :  Flee  shrewdnesse  [declinet  a  malo,  Vulg.],  and 
do  goodnesse ;  seek  pees,  and  folwe  it. 

Chaucer,  The  Tale  of  Melibeits. 

SIEGE.    We  employ  <  siege'  now  only  of  the  sitting- 
down  of  an  army  before  a  fortified  place  with  the  pur- 


182  SIEGE — SILLY. 

pose  of  taking  it ;  but  it  had  once  the  double  meaning, 
abstract  and  concrete,  of  the  French  '  siege,'  a  seat. 

Whannc  marines  sone  schal  come  in  liis  majeste  and  alle  liisc 
aungelis  with  hym,  thanne  he  schal  sitte  on  the  scge  of  his  majestc, 
and  ulle  folkis  schal  he  gaderidc  bifore  hym. 

Matt.  xxv.  31,  32.  Wiclif. 

A  stately  sitge  of  soveraine  majesty, 
And  thereon  sat  a  woman  gorgeous  gav. 

Spenser,  The  Fairy  Queen,  ii.  7,  44. 

Besides,  upon  the  very  si?qe  of  justice 
Lord  Angelo  hath  to  the  common  ear 
Professed  the  contrary. 

Shakespeare,  Measure  for  Measure,  Act  iv.  Sc.  2. 

SILLY.  A  deep  conviction  of  men  that  he  who  de 
parts  from  evil  will  make  himself  a  prey,  that  none 
will  be  a  match  for  the  world's  evil  who  is  not  himself 
evil,  has  brought  to  pass  the  fact  that  a  number  of 
words,  signifying  at  hrst  goodness,  signify  next  wcll- 
meaning  simplicity,  the  notions  of  goodness  and  fool 
ishness,  with  a  strong  predominance  of  the  last,  for  a 
while  interpenetrating  one  another  in  them,  till  at 
length  the  latter  quite  expels  the  former,  and  remains 
as  the  sole  possessor  of  the  word.  I  need  hardly 
mention  the  Greek  s-Jvj^,  eJ-^sia:  while  the  same  has 
happened  in  regard  of  our  own  l  silly,'  which  (the 
same  word  as  the  German  '  sclig,')  has  successively 
meant,  (1)  blessed,  (2)  innocent,  (3)  harmless,  (4) 
weakly  foolish. 

Iloloferncs,  a  valiant  and  mighty  captain,  being  overwhelmed  with 


SILLY — SKELETON.  183 

wine,  had  his  head  stricken  from  his  shoulders  l>v  that  ailli/  woman 
Judith. 

Homilies  ;  Sermon  against  Gluttony  and  Drunkenness. 

This  Miles  Forest  and  John  Dighton  about  midnight  (the  silly 
children  lying  in  their  beds)  came  into  the  chamber,  and  suddenly 
lapped  them  up  among  the  clothes. 

Sir  T.  More,  The  History  of  King  Richard  III. 

Strange  it  was  thought,  and  absurd  above  the  rest,  to  chase  and 
keep  out  of  the  house  silly  swallows,  harmless  and  gentle  creaUircs. 

Holland,  Plutarch's  Morals,  p.  776. 


SINCERE,  |  The  etymology  of  '  sincerus'  being  un- 
SINCERITT.  j  certain,  it  is  impossible  to  say  what  is 
the  primary  notion  of  our  English  c  sincere.'  It  and 
1  sincerity'  no  less  belong  now  to  an  ethical  sphere 
exclusively ;  but  the  absence  of  foreign  admixture 
which  they  predicate  might  be  literal  once. 

The  mind  of  a  man,  as  it  is  not  of  that  content  or  receipt  to  com 
prehend  knowledge  without  helps  and  supplies,  so  again,  it  is  not 
sincere,  but  of  an  ill  and  corrupt  tincture. 

Bacon,  Of  the  Interpretation  of  Nature,  c.  xvi. 

The  Germans  are  a  people  that  more  than  all  the  world,  I  think, 
may  boast  sincerity,  as  being  for  some  thousands  of  years  a  pure  and 
unmixed  people. 

Feltham,  A  brief  Character  of  the  Low  Countries,  p.  59. 


SKELETON.  Now  the  complex  of  bones  as  entirely 
denuded  of  the  flesh ;  but  in  early  English,  and  there 
in  stricter  agreement  with  its  etymology,  ihe  dried 
mummy. 


184 


SKELETON — SONNET. 


Scelet ;  the  dead  body  of  a  man  artificially  dried  or  tanned  for  to 
be  kept  or  seen  a  long  time. 

Holland,  Plutarch's  ft  [orals ;  An  Explanation  of  certain 
obscure  Words. 

SOFT,       |  It  is  not  an  honorable  fact  that  « soft' 
SOFTNESS.  /  and  '  softness'  should  now  be  terms  of 

slight,  almost  of  contempt,  when  ethically  employed  ; 

although  indeed  it  is  only  a  repetition  of  what  we  find 

in  xp^-roV,  elrfas;,  '  gutig,'  '  bonhomie,'  and  other  words 

not  a  few. 

That  they  speak  evil  of  no  man,  that  they  be  no  fighters,  but  soft 
[iTTutxeis],  showing  all  meekness  unto  all  men. 

Titus  iii.  2.  Tyndale. 

The  meek  or  soft  shall  inherit  the  earth ;  even  as  we  say,  Be  still, 
and  have  thy  will. 

Tyndale,  Exposition  on  the  v.,  vi.,  vii.  Chapters  of  St.  Matthew. 
Let  your  softness  [TO  founds  fyoh]  be  known  unto  all  men. 

Phil.  iv.  5.  Cranmer. 

SONNET.  A  '  sonnet'  now  must  consist  of  exactly 
fourteen  lines,  neither  more  nor  less ;  and  these  with 
a  fixed  arrangement,  though  admitting  a  certain  re 
laxation,  of  the  rhymes;  but  'sonnet'  used  often  to 
be  applied  to  any  shorter  poem,  especially  of  an  ama 
tory  kind. 

He  [Arion]  had  a  wonderful  desire  to  chaunt  &  sonnet  or  hymn  unto 
Apollo  Pythias. 

Holland,  Plutarch's  Morals,  p.  343. 

If  ye  wi  1  tell  us  a  tale,  or  play  a  jig,  or  show  us  a  play  and  fine 
sights,  or  &ing  sonnets  in  our  ears,  there  we  will  be  for  you. 

Rogers,  Nuaman  th?  Syrian,  p.  492. 


SOT — SPARKLE.  185 

SOT,  "v  He  only  is  a  '  sot'  now  whose  stupor 

SOTTISH,         >  and  folly  is  connected  with,  and  the 
SOTTISHNESS.  J  result  of,  excessive  drink.     But  any 

fool  would  once  bear  this  name. 

* 

In  Egypt  oft  has  seen  the  sot  bow  down, 
And  reverence  some  deified  baboon. 

Oldham,  The  Eighth    Satire   of    Boileau. 

He  [Perseus]  commanded  those  poor  divers  to  be  secretly  mur 
dered,  that  no  person  should  remain  alive  that  was  privy  to  that  sottish 

commandment  of  his. 

Holland,  Livy,  p.  1177. 

A  leper  once  he  lost,  and  gained  a  king, 
Ahaz  his  sottish  conqueror,  whom  he  drew 
God's  altar  to  disparage  and  displace 

For  one  of  Syrian  mode. 

Milton,  Paradise  Lost,  b.  i. 

Sottishness  and  dotage  is  the  extinguishing  of  reason  in  phlegm  or 
cold. 

H.  More,  The  Grand  Mystery  of  Godliness,  b.  viii.  c.  14. 


SPARKLE.  "Water  '  sparkles'  most  when  it  is  scat 
tered.  This  must  explain  the  transition  of  the  word 
from  its  former  meaning,  as  indicated  in  the  passages 
given  below,  to  its  present. 

The  Lansgrave  hath  sparkled  his  army  without  any  further  enter 
prise. 

State  Papers,  vol.  x.  p.  718. 

And  awhile  chawing  all  those  things  in  his  mouth,  he  spitteth  it 
upon  him  whom  he  desireth  to  kill ;  who  being  sparkled  therewith, 
dieth  by  force  of  the  poison  within  the  space  of  half  an  hour. 

Purchases  Pilgrims,  part  ii.  p.  1495. 


186  SPECIOUS — SPINSTER. 

SPECIOUS.  Like  the  Latin  '  speciosns'  it  simply  sig 
nified  beautiful  once  ;  it  now  means  always,  presenting 
a  deceitful  appearance  of  that  beauty  which  is  not 
really  possessed,  and  is  never  used  in  any  but  an  ethi 
cal  sense. 

This  prince  hadde  a  dowter  dere,  Asneth  was  her  name, 
A  virgine  ful  specious,  and  sernely  of  stature. 

Metrical  Romance  of  the  Fourteenth  Century. 

Which  [aim ug- trees],  if  odoriferous,  made  that  passage  as  sweet  to 
the  smell  as  specious  to  the  sight. 

Fuller,  A  Pisgah  Sight  if  Palestine,  b.  iii.  c.  2.  §  5. 


SPICE.  We  have  in  English  a  double  adoption  of 
the  Latin  '  species,'  namely  '  spice'  and  '  species.' 
'  Spice,'  the  earlier  form  in  which  we  made  the  word 
our  own,  is  now  limited  to  aromatic  drugs,  which,  as 
consisting  of  various  kinds,  have  this  name  of  '  spices.' 
But  '  spice'  was  once  employed  as  '  species'  is  now. 

Abstevne  you  fro  al  vvel  spice  [ah  oinni  specie  mala,  Vulg.]. 

1  Tlicss.  v.  22.  Wiclif. 

The  spices  of  penance  hen  three.  That  on  of  hem  is  solempne, 
another  is  commune,  and  the  thridde  privio. 

Chaucer,   The  Peraoncs  Tale. 

Justice,  although  it  he  hut  one  entire  virtue,  yet  is  described  in 
two  kinds  of  spices.  The  one  is  named  justice  distributive,  the  other 

is  called  commutative. 

Sir  T.  Elvot,  The  Governor,  b.  iii.  c.  1. 


SPINSTER.    A  name  that  used  to  be  not  uncommonly 
applied  to  women  of  evil  life,  in  that  they  were  set  to 


SPINSTER — STAPLE.  187 

enforced  labor  of  spinning  in  the  spittle  or  House  of 
Correction,  and  thus  were  '  spinsters.'  None  of  our 
Dictionaries,  so  far  as  I  have  observed,  take  note  of 
this  use  of  the  word. 

Munv  would  never  be  indicted  spinsters,  were  they  spinsters  indeed, 
nor  come  to  so  public  and  shameful  punishments,  if  painfully  em 
ployed  in  that  vocation. 

Fuller,  The  Worthies  of  England,  Kent. 

Geta.  These  women  are  still  troublesome  ; 

There  be  houses  provided  for  such  wretched  women, 

And  some  small  rents  to  set  ye  a  spinning. 
Drusilla.  Sir, 

We  are  no  spinsters,  nor,  if  you  look  upon  us, 

So  wretched  as  you  take  us. 

Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  The  Prophetess,  Act  iii.  Sc.  1. 


STAPLE.  A  curious  change  has  come  over  this  word. 
We  should  now  say,  Cotton  is  the  great  '  staple,'  that 
is,  the  established  merchandize,  of  Manchester ;  our 
fathers  would  have  reversed  this  and  said,  Manchester 
is  the  great  '  staple'  or  established  mart  of  cotton. 
We  make  the  goods  prepared  or  sold,  the  '  staple  of 
the  place,  they  made  the  place  the  '  staple'  of  the 
goods. 

Men  in  all  ages  have  made  themselves  merry  with  singling  out 
some  place,  and  fixing  the  staple  of  stupidity  and  stolidity  therein. 

Fuller,  The  Worthies  of  England,  Nottinghamshire. 

Staple;  a  city  or  town,  where  merchants  jointly  lay  up  their  com 
modities  for  the  better  uttering  of  them  by  the  great ;  a  public  store 
house. 

Phillips,  The  New  World  of  Words. 


188  STARVE STATE. 

STARVE.  The  Anglo-Saxon  *  steorfan,'  the  German 
1  sterben,'  to  die,  it  is  only  by  comparatively  modern 
use  restricted  to  perishing  by  cold  or  by  hunger ;  in 
this  restriction  of  use,  resembling  somewhat  the  French 
4  noyer,'  to  kill  by  drowning,  while  <  necare,'  from 
which  it  descends,  is  to  kill  by  any  manner  of  death. 
But  innumerable  words  are  thus  like  rivers,  which 
once  pouring  their  waters  through  many  channels, 
have  now  left  dry  land  and  abandoned  them  all,  save 
one,  or  as  in  the  present  instance  it  happens,  save  two. 

For  wcle  or  wo  she  n'ill  him  not  forsake  : 
She  n'is  not  wery  him  to  love  and  serve, 
Though  that  he  lie  bedrede  til  that  lie  sterre. 

Chaucer,  The  Merchantes  Tale. 

But,  if  for  me  ye  fight,  or  me  will  serve, 
Not  this  rude  kind  of  battle,  nor  'hese  arms 
Are  meet,  the  which  do  men  in  bale  to  sterve. 

Spenser,  The  Fairy  Queen,  ii.  6,  34. 


STATE.  Used  often  by  our  old  writers  for  a  raised 
dais  or  platform,  on  which  was  placed  a  chair  or 
throne  with  a  canopy  (the  German  '  ThronhimmeF) 
above  it ;  being  the  chiefest  seat  of  honor ;  thus  in 
Massinger's  Bondman,  Act  i.  Sc.  3,  according  to  the 
old  stage-direction  Archidamus  "  offers  Timoleon  the 
stale." 

But  for  a  canopy  to  shade  her  head, 

No  state  which  lasts  no  longer  than  'tis  stayed, 

And  fastened  up  by  cords  and  pillars'  aid. 

Beaumont,  Psyche,  can.  xix.  St.  170. 


STATE — STICKLE.  189 

Tlieir  majesties  were  seated  as  is  aforesaid  under  their  canopies  or 
states,  whereof  that  of  the  Queen  was  somewhat  lesser  and  lower  than 
that  of  the  King,  but  both  of  them  exceeding  rich. 

History  of  the  Coronation  of  King  James  II.,  1687,  p.  61. 

"When  he  went  to  court,  he  used  to  kick  away  the  state,  and  sit 
down  by  his  prince  cheek  by  jowl.  Confound  these  states,  says  he, 
they  are  a  modern  invention. 

Swift,  History  of  John  Bull,  part  ii.  c.  1. 


STATIONER.  There  was  a  time  when  *  stationer,' 
meaning  properly  no  more  than  one  who  had  his  sta 
tion,  that  is,  in  the  market-place  or  elsewhere,  included 
the  bookseller  and  the  publisher  as  well  as  the  dealer 
in  the  raw  material  of  books.  But  when,  in  the  di 
vision  of  labor,  these  became  separate  businesses,  the 
name  was  restrained  to  him  who  dealt  in  the  latter 
articles  alone. 

I  doubt  not  but  that  the  Animadvertor's  stationer  doth  hope  and  de 
sire  that  he  hath  thus  pleased  people  in  his  book,  for  the  advancing 
of  the  price  and  quickening  the  sale  thereof. 

Fuller,  The  Appeal  of  Injured  Innocence,  p.  38. 

The  right  of  the  printed  copies  (which  the  stationer  takes  as  his  own 
freehold)  was  dispersed  in  five  or  six  several  hands. 

Oley,  Preface  to  Dr.  Jackson's  Works. 

STICKLE,  )  Now  to  stand  with  a  certain  pertinacity 
STICKLER.  J   to  one's  point,  refusing  to  renounce  or 
go  back  from  it ;  but  formerly  equivalent  to  the  em 
phatic  '  decharpir,'  a  word  which  the  French  language 
has  now  let  go,  to  interpose  between  combatants  and 


190  STICKLE — STOUT. 

separate  them,  when  they  had  sufficiently  satisfied  the 
laws  of  honor ;  some  deriving  it  from  the  wands, 
sceptres,  or  sticks  with  which  the  heralds  engaged  in 
this  office  separated  the  combatants.  Our  present 
meaning  of  the  word  connects  itself  with  the  past  in 
the  fact  that  the  '  sticklers,  or  seconds,  as  we  should 
call  them  now,  often  fulfilled  another  function,  being 
ready  to  maintain  in  their  own  persons  and  by  their 
own  arms  the  quarrel  of  their  principals,  and  thus  to 
'  stickle'  for  it. 

Betwixt  which  three  a  question  grew, 
Which  should  the  worthiest  be  ; 
Which  violently  they  pursue, 
And  would  not  stickled  be. 

Drayton,  Muses'  Elysium,  Xymph.  6. 

The  same  angel  [in  Tasso],  when  half  of  the  Christians  arc  already 
killed,  and  all  the  rest  arc  in  a  fair  way  of  being  routed,  stickles  be 
twixt  the  remainders  of  God's  hosts  and  the  race  of  fiends  ;  pulls  the 
devils  backwards  by  the  tails,  and  drives  them  from  their  quarry. 

Dry  den,  Dedication  of  Translations  from  Juvenal,  p.  122. 

The  dragon  wing  of  night  o'erspreads  the  earth, 
And,  slickler-Vike,  the  armies  separates. 

Shakespeare,  Troilus  and  Cressida,  Act  v.  Sc.  9. 

Our  former  chiefs,  like  sticklers  of  the  war, 
•  First  fought  to  inflame  the  parties,  then  to  poise; 

The  quarrel  loved,  but  did  the  cause  abhor, 
And  did  not  strike  to  hurt,  but  make  a  noise. 

Dry  den,  On  tlie  Death  of  Oliver  Cromwell. 

STOUT,       )  The  temptation  to  the  strong  to  be  also 
STOUTNESS,  j  the  proud  is  so  natural,  so  difficult  to 


STOUT — SUBLIME.  191 

resist,  and  resisted  by  so  few,  that  it  is  nothing  won 
derful  when  words,  first  meaning  the  one,  pass  over 
into  the  sense  of  the  other.  '  Stout,'  however,  has 
not  retained,  except  in  some  provincial  use,  the  sense 
of  proud,  nor  *  stoutness'  of  pride. 

For  had  not  Eumenes  been  so  ambitious  and  stout  to  strive  against 
Antigonus  for  tlie  chiefest  place  of  authority,  but  could  have  been 
contented  with  the  second,  Antigonus  would  have  been  right  glad 
thereof. 

North,  Plutarch's  Lives,  p.  509. 

Come  all  to  ruin  ;  let 

Thy  mother  rather  feel  thy  pride,  than  fear 
Thy  dangerous  stoutness ;  for  I  mock  at  death 
With  as  big  heart  as  thou. 

Shakespeare,  Coriolanus,  Act  iii.  Sc.  2. 


STOVE.  This  word  has  much  narrowed  its  meaning. 
Bath,  hothouse,  any  room  where  air  or  water  were 
artificially  heated,  was  a  l  stove'  once. 

When  a  certain  Frenchman  came  to  visit  Melancthon,  he  found 
him  in  his  stove,  with  one  hand  dandling  his  child  in  the  swaddling- 
clouts,  and  the  other  holding  a  book  and  reading  it. 

Fuller,  The  Holy  State,  b.  ii.  c.  9. 

How  tedious  is  it,  to  them  that  live  in  stoves  and  caves  half  a  year 
together,  as  in  Iceland,  Muscovy,  or  under  the  pole ! 

Barton,  The  Anatomy  of  Melancholy,  part  i.  sect.  2. 


SUBLIME.  There  is  an  occasional  use  of  *  sublime' 
by  our  earlier  poets,  a  use  in  which  it  bears  much  the 
meaning  of  the  Greek  l-rsrirywix,  or  perhaps  approaches 


192  SUBLIME — SUSPECT. 

still  more  closely  to  that  of  lurr^poc,  high  and  lifted 
up  as  with  pride  ;  which  has  now  quite  departed  from 
it. 

For  the  proud  Soldan  with  presumptuous  cheer, 
And  countenance  sublime  and  insolent, 
Sought  only  slaughter  and  avengement. 

Spenser,  The  Fairy  Queen,  b.  v.  c.  8. 

Their  hearts  were  jocund  and  sublime, 
Drunk  with  idolatry,  drunk  with  wine. 

Milton,  Samson  Agonistes. 

SURE.    Used  once   in   the  sense  of  affianced,  or 
6  hand-fasted.'     See  '  ASSURE,'  '  ENSURE.' 

The  king  was  sure  to  dame  Elizabeth  Lucy,  and  her  husband  be 
fore  God. 

Sir  T.  More,  The  History  of  King  Richard  III. 


SUSPECT,  1  To  '  suspect'  is  properly  to  look  under, 
SUSPICION,  (and  out  of  this  fact  is  derived  our  pres 
ent  use  of  the  word  ;  but  in  looking  under  you  may 
also  look  up,  and  herein  lies  the  explanation  of  an 
occasional  use  of  *  suspect'  and  '  suspicion'  which  we 
find  in  our  early  writers. 

Pelopidas  being  sent  the  second  time  into  Thessaly,  to  make  ac 
cord  betwixt  the  people  and  Alexander,  the  tyrant  of  Pheres,  was  by 
this  tyrant  (not  suspecting  the  dignity  of  an  ambassador,  nor  of  his 

country)  made  prisoner. 

North,  Plutarch's  Lives,  p.  927. 

If  God  do  intimate  to  the  spirit  of  any  wise  inferiors  that  they  ought 
to  reprove,  then  let  them  suspect  their  own  persons,  and  beware  that 
they  make  no  open  contestation,  but  be  content  with  privacy. 

Rogers,  Naaman  the  Syrian,  p.  330. 


SUSPECT — SYMBOL.  193 

Cordeilla  out  of  mere  love,  without  the  suspicion  of  expected  re 
ward,  at  the  message  only  of  her  father  in  distress,  pours  forth  true 

filial  tears. 

Milton,  The  History  of  England,  b.  i. 


SYCOPHANT.  The  early  meaning  of  '  sycophant,' 
when  it  was  employed  as  equivalent  to  informer,  de 
lator,  calumniator,  '  promoter,'  agreed  better  with  its 
assumed  derivation,  and  undoubted  use,  in  the  Greek, 
than  does  our  present.  Employing  it  as  we  now  do 
in  the  sense  of  false  and  fawning  flatterer,  we  might 
seem  at  first  sight  to  employ  it  in  a  sense  not  merely 
altogether  unconnected  with,  but  quite  opposite  to,  its 
former.  Yet  indeed  there  is  a  very  deep  inner  con 
nection  between  the  two  uses.  It  is  not  for  nothing 
that  Jeremy  Taylor  treats  of  these  two,  "  Of  Slander 
and  Flattery,"  in  one  and  the  same  sermon. 

The  poor  man  that  hath  nought  to  lose  is  not  afraid  of  the  syco 
phant  or  promoter. 

Holland,  Plutarch's  Morals,  p.  261. 

He  [St.  Paul]  in  peril  of  the  wilderness,  that  is  of  wild  beasts ; 
they  [rich  men]  not  only  of  the  wild  beast  called  the  sycophant,  but 
of  the  tame  beast  too,  called  the  flatterer. 

Andrews,  Sermon  preached  at  the  Spittle. 

Sanders,  that  malicious  sycophant,  will  have  no  less  than  twenty- 
six  wain-load  of  silver,  gold,  and  precious  stones  to  be  seized  into  the 
king's  hands  by  the  spoil  of  that  monument. 

Heylin,  The  History  of  the  Reformation,  ed.  1849,  vol.  i.  p.  20. 


SYMBOL.    The  employment  of  <  symbol'  in  its  proper 
Greek  sense  of  contribution  thrown  into  a  common 

9 


194  SYMBOL — TABLE. 

stock,  as  in  a  pic-nic,  or  the  like,  is  frequent  in  Jere 
my  Taylor,  and  examples  of  it  may  be  found  in  other 
scholarly  writers  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

The  consideration  of  these  tilings  hath  oft  suggested,  and  at  length 
persuaded  me  to  make  this  attempt,  to  east  in  my  mite  to  this  treas 
ury,  my  symbohiin  toward  so  charitable  a  work. 

Hammond,  A  Paraphrase  and  Annotations  on  the  Psalms,  Preface. 

Christ  hath  finished  his  own  sufferings  for  expiation  of  the  world  ; 
yet  there  are  "portions  that  arc  behind  of  the  sufferings"  of  Christ, 
which  must  be  filled  up  by  his  body  the  Church  ;  and  happy  are  they 
that  put  in  the  greatest  symbol;  for  "in  the  same  measure  you  are 
partakers  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  in  the  same  shall  ye  be  also  of 
the  consolation." 

J.  Taylor,  The  Faith  and  Patience  of  the  Saints. 


T. 

TABLE.  The  Latin  'tabula'  had  for  one  of  its 
meanings  picture  or  painting ;  and  this  caused  that 
1  table'  was  by  our  early  writers  used  often  in  the  same 
meaning. 

The  table  wherein  Detraction  was  expressed,  he  [Apelles]  painted 

in  this  form. 

Sir  T.  Elyot,  The  Governor,  b.  iii.  c.  27. 

You  shall  see,  as  it  were  in  a  table  painted  before  your  eyes,  the 
evil-favouredness  and  deformity  of  this  most  detestable  vice. 

Homilies  ;  Sermon  against  Contention. 

Learning  flourished  yet  in  the  city  of  Sicyon,  and  they  esteemed 
the  painting  of  tables  in  that  city  to  be  the  perfectcst  for  true  colours 
and  fine  drawing,  of  all  other  places. 

North,  Plutarch's  Lives,  p.  843. 


TALL TEMPER.  195 

TALL.  Our  ancestors  superinduced  on  the  primary 
meaning  of  '  tall'  a  secondary,  resting  on  the  assump 
tion  that  tall  men  would  be  also  brave,  and  this  often 
with  a  dropping  of  the  notion  of  height  altogether. 

His  [the  Earl  of  Richmond's]  companions  being  almost  in  despair 
of  victory  were  suddenly  recomforted  by  Sir  William  Stanley,  which 

rame  to  succours  with  three  thousand  tall  men. 

Grafton,  Chronicle. 

Tambnrlaine.  Where  are  my  common  soldiers  now,  that  fought 

So  lionlike  upon  Asphaltis'  plains? 
Soldier.  Here,  my  lord. 

Tamburlaine.  Hold  ye,  tall  soldiers,  take  ye  queens  apiece. 

Marlowe,  Tamburlaine  the  Great,  part  ii.,  Act  iv.  Sc.  4. 

He  [Prince  Edward]  would  proffer  to  fight  with  any  mean  person, 
if  cried  up  by  the  volge  for  a  tall  man. 

Fuller,  The  Holy  War,  b.  iv.  c.  29. 


TARPAULIN.    Not  any  longer  used  except  in  the 
shorter  form  of  '  tar'  for  sailor. 

The  Archbishop  of  Bourdeaux  is  at  present  General  of  the  French 
naval  forces,  who  though  a  priest,  is  yet  permitted  to  turn  tarpaulin 

and  soldier. 

The  Turkish  Spy,  Letter  2. 


TEMPER.  What  has  been  said  under  the  word  '  hu 
mour'  will  also  explain  '  temper,'  and  the  earlier  uses 
of  it  which  we  meet.  The  happy  '  temper'  would  be 
the  happy  mixture,  the  blending  in  due  proportions, 
of  the  four  principal  'humours'  of  the  body. 


196  TEMPER — TERMAGANT. 

The  exquisiteness  of  his  [the  Saviour's]  bodily  temper  increased 
the  exquisiteness  of  his  torment,  and  the  ingenuity  of  his  soul  added 
to  his  sensibleness  of  the  indignities  and  affronts  offered  to  him. 

Fuller,  A  Pisijah  Siylit  of  Palestine,  vol.  i.  p.  345. 

Concupiscence  itself  follows  the  crasis  and  temperature  of  the 
body.  If  you  would  know  why  one  man  is  proud,  another  cruel,  an 
other  intemperate  or  luxurious,  you  are  not  to  repair  so  much  to 
Aristotle's  ethics,  or  to  the  writings  of  other  moralists,  as  to  those  of 
Galen,  or  of  some  anatomists,  to  find  the  reason  of  these  different 

tempers. 

South,  Sermons,  1744,  vol.  ii.  p.  5. 


TEMPERAMENT.  The  Latin  '  temperamentum'  has 
sometimes  very  nearly  the  sense  of  our  English  '  com 
promise,'  signifying,  as  this  does,  a  middle  term 
reached  by  mutual  concession,  by  a  tempering'  of  the 
extreme  claims  upon  either  side.  I  am  indisposed  to 
think  that  the  use  of  '  temperament'  in  this  same  mean 
ing  is  peculiar  to  Milton,  though  I  have  no  second 
example  at  hand. 

Safest,  therefore,  to  me  it  seems  that  none  of  the  Council  be  moved 
unless  by  death,  or  just  conviction  of  some  crime.  However,  I  fore 
judge  not  any  probable  expedient,  any  temperament  that  can  be  found 
in  things  of  this  nature,  so  disputable  on  either  side. 

Milton,  The  Ready  and  Ka&y  Way  to  establish  a 
Free  Commonwealth. 


TERMAGANT.  This  would  now  be  applied  only  to 
females  of  fierce  temper  and  ungoverned  tongue,  but 
formerly  to  male  and  female  alike  ;  and  indeed  pre 
dominantly  to  the  first. 


TERMAGANT — THOUGHT.  197 

Art  thou  so  fierce,  currish,  and  churlish  a  Nnbal,  that  even  when 
thou  mightest  live  in  the  midst  of  thy  people  (as  she  told  Elisha 
[2  Kings  iV.  13J),  thou  delightest  to  play  the  tyrant  and  termagant 

among  them  ? 

Rogers,  Naaman  the  Syrian,  p.  270. 


THEWS.  It  is  a  remarkable  evidence  of  Shake 
speare's  influence  upon  the  English  language,  that 
while,  so  far  as  yet  has  been  observed,  every  other 
writer,  one  single  instance  excepted,  employs  '  thews' 
in  the  sense  of  manners,  qualities  of  mind  and  dispo 
sition,  the  fact  that,  as  often  as  he  employs  it,  it  is  in 
the  sense  of  nerves,  muscular  vigor,  has  quite  over 
borne  the  other  use ;  which,  once  so  familiar  in  our 
literature,  has  now  quite  passed  away.  See  a  valua 
ble  note  in  Craik's  English  of  Shakespeare,  p.  117. 

To  all  good  thewes  born  was  she; 

As  liked  to  the  goddes  or  she  was  born, 

That  of  the  shefe  she  should  be  the  come. 

Chaucer,  The  Legend  of  Hypermestre. 

For  everv  thing  to  which  one  is  inclined 

Doth  best  become  and  greatest  grace  doth  gain; 

Yet  praise  likewise  deserve  good  thewes  enforced  with  pain. 

Spenser,  The  Fairy  Queen,  b.  ii.  2. 

THOUGHT.  Many,  as  they  read  or  hear  in  our 
English  Bible  these  words  of  our  Lord,  "  Take  no 
thought  for  your  life"  (Matt.  vi.  25),  are  perplexed, 
for  they  can  not  help  thinking  that  there  is  some  ex 
aggeration  in  them,  that  He  is  urging  here  something 
which  is  impossible,  and  which,  if  possible,  would  not 


198  THOUGHT — TINSEL. 

be  desirable,  but  a  forfeiting  of  the  true  dignity  of 
man.  Or,  perhaps,  if  they  are  able  to  compare  the 
English  with  the  Greek,  they  blame  our  Translators 
for  having  given  an  emphasis  to  the  precept  which  it 
did  not  possess  in  the  original.  But  neither  is  the 
fact.  '  Thought'  is  constantly  anxious  care  in  our 
earlier  English,  as  the  examples  which  follow  will 
abundantly  prove. 

He  so  plagued  and  vexed  his  father  with  injurious  indignities,  that 
the  old  man  for  very  thought  and  grief  of  heart  pined  away  and  died. 

Holland,  Camden's  Ireland,  p.  120. 

In  five  hundred  years  only  two  queens  have  died  in  childbirth. 
Queen  Catherine  Parr  died  rather  of  thought. 

Tracts  during  the  Reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth ; 
Somers  Tracts,  vol.  i.  p.  172. 

Harris,  an  alderman  of  London,  was  put  in  trouble,  and  died  of 
thought  and  anxiety  before  his  business  came  to  an  end. 

Bacon,  The  History  of  King  Henry  VII. 

THRIFTY.  The  '  thrifty'  is  on  the  way  to  be  the 
thriving ;  yet  4  thrifty'  does  not  mean  thriving  now, 
as  once  it  did.  It  still  indeed  retains  this  meaning 
in  provincial  use,  as  I  have  heard  a  newly-transplanted 
tree  which  was  doing  well,  described  as  '  thrifty.' 

No  grace  hath  more  abundant  promises  made  unto  it  than  this  of 
mercy,  a  sowing,  a  reaping,  a  thrifty  grace. 

Bishop  Reynolds,  Sermon  30. 

TINSEL.  This  is  always  now  cheap  finery,  glistening 
like  silver  and  gold,  but  at  the  same  time  pretending 


TINSEL — TORY.  199 

a  value  and  a.  richness  which  it  does  not  really  possess. 
There  was  no  such  habitual  insinuation  of  pretentious 
finery  in  its  earlier  uses. 

Every  place  was  hanged  with  cloth  of  gold,  cloth  of  silver,  tinsel, 

arras,  tapestry,  and  what  not. 

Stubs,  The  Anatomy  of  Abuses,  p.  18. 

[Hej  never  cared  for  silks  or  sumptuous  cost, 

For  cloth  of  gold,  or  tinsel  figurie, 

For  baudkin,  broidery,  cutworks,  nor  conceits. 

Gascoigne,  The  Steel  Glass. 


TOBACCONIST.    Now  the  seller,  once  the  smoker,  of 
tobacco. 

Germany  hath  not  so  many  drunkards,  England  tobacconists,  France 
dancers,  Holland  mariners,  as  Italy  alone  hath  jealous  husbands. 

Burton,  The  Anatomy  of  Melancholy,  part  iii.  sect.  3. 

But  let  it  be  of  any  truly  said, 

He's  great,  religious,  learned,  wise  or  staid, 

But  he  is  lately  turned  tobacconist, 

Oh  what  a  blur !  what  an  abatement  is't ! 

Sylvester,  Tobacco  Battered. 


TORY.  It  is  curious  how  often  political  parties  have 
ended  by  assuming  to  themselves  names  first  fastened 
on  them  by  their  adversaries  in  reproach  and  scorn. 
The  4  Gueux'  or  '  Beggars'  of  Holland  are  perhaps  the 
most  notable  instance  of  all ;  so  too  '  tories'  was  a 
name  properly  belonging  to  the  Irish  bogtrotters,  who 
during  our  Civil  Wars  robbed  and  plundered,  profes 
sing  to  be  in  arms  for  the  maintenance  of  the  royal 


200  TORY — TREACLE. 

cause;  and  from  them  transferred,  about  the  year 
1680,  to  those  who  sought  to  maintain  the  extreme 
prerogatives  of  the  Crown. 

Mosstroopers,  a  sort  of  rebels  in  the  northern  part  of  Scotland,  that 
live  by  robbery  and  spoil,  like  the  lories  in  Ireland,  or  the  banditi  in 

Italy. 

Phillips,  The  Neiv  World  of  Words,  ed.  1706. 

TREACLE.  At  present  it  means  only  the  sweet  syrup 
of  molasses,  but  a  word  once  of  far  wider  reach  and 
far  nobler  significance,  haying  come  to  us  from  afar, 
and  by  steps  which  arc  curious  to  be  traced.  They 
are  these :  the  Greeks,  in  anticipation  of  modern  ho 
moeopathy,  called  a  supposed  antidote  to  the  viper's 
bite,  which  was  composed  of  the  viper's  flesh,  Ar^iv/.r,, 
from  ^pi'ov,  a  name  often  given  to  the  viper  (Acts 
xxviii.  5)  ;  of  this  came  the  Latin  '  tlieriaca,'  and  our 
'  theriac,'  of  which,  or  rather  of  the  Latin  form,  i  trea 
cle'  is  but  a  popular  corruption. 

For  a  most  strong  treacle  against  these  venomous  heresies  wrought 
our  Saviour  many  a  marvellous  miracle. 

Sir  T.  More,  A  Treatise  on  the  Passion,   Works,  p.  1357. 

At  last  his  body  [Sir  Thomas  Overbury's]  was  almost  come  by  use 

of  poisons  to  the  state  that  Mithridatcs'  body  was  by  the  use  of  treacle 

and  preservatives,  that  the  force  of  the  poisons  was  blunted  upon  him. 

Bacon,  Charge  against  Robert,  Earl  of  Somerset. 

The  saints'  experiences  help  them  to  a  sovereign  treacle  made  of 
the  scorpion's  own  flesh  (which  they  through  Christ  have  slain),  and 
that  hath  a  virtue  above  all  other  to  expel  the  venom  of  Satan's 
temptations  from  the  heart. 

Gurnall,  The  Christian  in  Cowhide  An»nnr,  c.  ix.  §  ?. 


TREACLE — TRIVIAL.  201 

Treacle ;  a  physical  composition,  made  of  vipers  and  other  inirre- 

dients. 

Phillips,  The  New  World  of  Words. 


TRIUMPH.  A  name  often  transferred  by  our  early 
writers  to  any  stately  shows  and  pageantries  whatever, 
not  restricted,  as  now,  to  those  which  celebrate  a  vic 
tory.  See  Lord  Bacon's  Essay,  the  37th,  with  the 
heading,  Of  Masks  and  Triumphs,  passim. 

Our  daughter, 

In  honour  of  whose  birth  these  triumphs  are, 
Sits  here,  like  beauty's  child. 

Pericles,  Prince  of  Tyre,  Act  ii.  Sc.  2. 

You  cannot  have  a  perfect  palace  except  you  have  two  several 
bides,  the  one  for  feasts  and  triumphs,  the  other  for  dwelling. 

Bacon,  Essays,  45. 

TRIVIAL.  A  '  trivial'  saying  is  at  present  a  slight 
one ;  it  was  formerly  a  well-worn  or  often-repeated 
one,  or,  as  we  should  now  say,  one  that  was  trite  ;  but 
this,  it  might  be,  on  the  ground  of  the  weight  and 
wisdom  which  it  contained ;  as  certainly  the  maxim 
quoted  by  Hacket  is  any  thing  but  '  trivial'  in  our 
sense  of  the  word.  Gradually  the  notion  of  slight- 
ness  was  superadded  to  that  of  commonness,  and  thus 
an  epithet  once  of  honor  has  become  one  of  dishonor 
rather. 

Others  avouch,  and  that  more  truly,  that  he  [Duns  Scotus]  was 
born  in  Downe,  and  thereof  they  guess  him  to  be  named  Dunensis, 
and  by  contraction  Duns,  which  term  is  so  trivial  and  common  in 

9* 


202  TRIVIAL — TUITION. 

the  schools,  that  whoso  surpasseth  others  either  in  cavilling  sophistry 
or  suhtlc  philosophy  is  forthwith  nicknamed  a  Duns. 

Stanyhnrst,  The  Description  of  Ireland,  p.  2. 

.^Equitas  optimo  cuiqne  notissima,  is  a  trivial  saying,  A  very  good 
man  cannot  be  ignorant  of  equity. 

Hncket,  The  Life  of  Archbishop  Williams,  part  i.  p.  57. 

These  branches  [of  the  divine  life]  are  three,  whose  names  though 
trivial  and  vulgar,  yet,  if  rightly  understood,  they  bear  such  a  sense 
with  them,  that  nothing  more  weighty  ean  he  pronounced  by  the 
tongue  of  men  or  scraphims,  and  in  brief  they  are  these,  Charity, 
Humility,  and  Purity. 

H.  More,  The  Grand  ^Mystery  of  Godliness,  b.  ii.  c.  12. 

TRUMPERY.  That  which  is  deceitful  is  without  any 
worth  ;  and  '  trumpery,'  which  was  at  first  deceit, 
fraud  (tromperie),  is  now  any  thing  which  is  worth 
less  and  vile. 

When  truth  appeared,  Tvogero  hated  more 
Alcyna's  trumperies,  and  did  them  detest, 
Than  he  was  late  enamoured  before. 

Sir  J.  Harington,  Orlando  Furioso,  b.  vii. 

Britannicus  was  now  grown  to  man's  estate,  a  true  and  worthy 
plant  to  reeeive  his  father's  empire  ;  which  a  grafted  son  by  adoption 
now  possessed  by  the  injury  and  trumpery  of  his  mother. 

Greenway,  Tacitus,  p.  182. 

TUITION.  One  defends  another  most  effectually  who 
imparts  to  him  those  principles  and  that  knowledge 
whereby  he  shall  l>o  able  to  defend  himself;  and  there 
fore  our  modern  use  of  '  tuition'  as  teaching  is  a  deeper 
one  than  the  earlier,  which  made  it  to  mean  external 
rather  than  this  internal  protection. 


TUITION — TURK.  203 

As  though  they  were  not  to  be  trusted  with  the  king's  brother,  that 
by  the  assent  of  the  nobles  of  the  land  were  appointed,  as  the  king's 
nearest  friends,  to  the  tuition  of  his  own  royal  person. 

Sir  T.  More,  The  History  of  King  Richard  III.,  p.  36. 

Afterwards  turning  his  speech  to  his  wife  and  son,  he  [Scanderbcg] 
commended  them  both  with  his  kingdom  to  the  tuition  of  the  Vene 
tians. 

Knolles,  The  History  of  the  Turks,  vol.  i.  p.  274. 


TURK.  It  is  a  remarkable  evidence*of  the  extent 
to  which  the  Turks  and  the  Turkish  assault  upon 
Christendom  had  impressed  themselves  on  the  minds 
of  men,  of  the  way  in  which  they  stood  as  representing 
the  entire  Mahometan  world,  that  '  Turk,'  being  in 
fact  a  national,  is  constantly  employed  by  the  writers 
of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  as  a  re 
ligious,  designation,  as  equivalent  to,  and  coextensive 
with,  Mahometan  ;  exactly  as  "EXXrjv  in  the  New  Tes 
tament  means  continually  not  Greek,  but  Gentile. 

Have  mercy  upon  all  Jews,  Turks,  infidels,  and  Heretics. 

Collect  for  Good  Friday. 

It  is  no  good  reason  for  a  man's  religion,  that  he  was  born  and 
brought  up  in  it ;  for  then  a  Turk  would  have  as  much  reason  to  be 
a  Turk  as  a  Christian  to  be  a  Christian. 

Chillingworth,  The  Religion  of  Protestants  a  safe  Way 
unto  Salvation,  part  i.  c.  2. 


204  TTMBRAfiE. 


u. 

UMBRAGE,  )  '  To  take  umbrage'  is,  I  think,  the 
UMBRAGEOUS.  J  only  phrase  in  which  the  word  '  um 
brage'  is  still  in  use  among  us,  the  only  one  at  least 
in  which  it  is  ethically  employed ;  but  i  umbrage'  in 
its  earlier  use  coincides  in  meaning  with  the  old 
French  '  ombrage'  (see  the  quotation  from  Bacon), 
and  signifies  suspicion,  or  rather  the  disposition  to 
suspect ;  and  '  umbrageous,'  as  far  as  I  know,  is  con 
stantly  employed  in  the  sense  of  suspicious  by  our 
early  authors  ;  having  now  no  other  but  a  literal  sense. 
Other  uses  of  '  umbrage,'  as  those  of  Fuller  and  Jere 
my  Taylor  which  follow,  must  be  explained  from  the 
classical  sympathies  of  these  writers  ;  out  of  which 
the  Latin  etymology  of  the  word  gradually  made  it 
self  felt  in  the  meaning  which  they  ascribed  to  it, 
namely,  as  any  thing  slight  and  shadowy. 

I  say,  just  fear,  not  out  of  umbrages,  light  jealousies,  apprehensions 
afar  off,  but  out  of  clear  foresight  of  imminent  danger. 

Bacon,  Of  a   War  with  Spain. 

To  collect  the  several  essays  of  princes  glancing  on  that  project 
[a  new  Crusade],  were  a  task  of  great  pains  and  small  profit ;  espe 
cially  some  of  them  being  umbrages  and  state  representations  rather 
than  realities,  to  ingratiate  princes  with  their  subjects,  or  with  the 
oratory  of  so  pious  a  project  to  woo  money  out  of  people's  purses. 

Fuller,  The  Hob/  War,  h.  v.  c.  25. 

You  look  for  it  [truth]  in  your  books,  and  you  tug  hard  for  it  in 
your  disputations,  and  you  derive  it  from  the  cisterns  of  the  Fathers, 
and  you  inquire  after  the  old  ways ;  and  sometimes  are  taken  with 


UMBRAGE — UNCOUTH.  205 

new  appearances,  and  you  rejoice  in  ralse  lights,  or  are  delighted  with 
little  umbrages  or  peep  of  day. 

J.  Taylor,  A  Sermon  preached  to  the  University  of  Dublin, 

At  the  beginning  some  men  were  a  little  umbrageous,  and  startling 
at  the  name  of  the  Fathers ;  yet  since  the  Fathers  have  been  well  stud 
ied,  we  have  behaved  ourselves  with  more  reverence  toward  the  Fathers 
than  they  of  the  Roman  persuasion  have  done. 

Donne,  Sermons,  1640,  p.  557. 

That  there  was  none  other  present  but  himself  when  his  master  De 
Merson  was  murdered,  it  is  umbrageous,  and  leaves  a  spice  of  fear  and 
sting  of  suspicion  in  their  heads. 

Reynolds,  God's  Revenge  against  Murder,  b.  iii.  hist.  13. 


UNCOUTH.  Now  unformed  in  manner,  ungraceful 
in  behavior  ;  but  once  simply  unknown.  The  change 
in  signification  is  to  be  traced  to  the  same  causes 
which  made  '  barbarous,'  meaning  at  first  only  foreign, 
to  have  afterwards  the  sense  of  savage  and  wild. 
Almost  all  nations  regard  with  disfavor  and  dislike 
that  which  is  outlandish,  and  generally  that  with  which 
they  are  unacquainted ;  so  that  words  which  at  first 
did  but  express  this  fact  of  strangeness,  easily  acquire 
a  further  unfavorable  sense. 

The  vulgar  instruction  requires  also  vulgar  and  communicable 
terms,  not  clerkly  or  uncouth,  as  are  all  these  of  the  Greek  and  Latin 

languages. 

Puttenham,  The  Art  of  English  Poesy,  b.  iii.  c.  10. 

Wel-away  the  while  I  was  so  fond, 
To  leave  the  good  that  I  had  in  bond, 
In  hope  of  better  that  was  uncouth ; 
So  lost  the  dog  the  flesh  in  his  mouth. 

Spenser,  The  Shepherd's  Calendar,  September. 


206  UNCOUTH — UNKIND. 

"  Uncouth,  unktst,"  said  the  old  famous  poet,  Chaucer;  which  prov 
erb  very  well  taketh  place  in  this  our  new  poet,  who  for  that  he  is 
uncouth  (as  said  Chaucer)  is  unkist ;  and,  unknown  to  most  men,  is 
regarded  but  of  a  few. 

E.  K.,  Epistle  Dedicatory  prefixed  to  Spenser's  Shepherd's  Calendar. 


UNEQUAL.  From  the  constant  use  made  of  '  une 
qual'  by  our  early  writers,  for  whom  it  was  entirely 
equivalent  to  unjust,  unfair,  one  might  almost  suppose 
they  saw  in  it  '  iniquus'  rather  than  '  ina3qualis.'  At 
any  rate  they  had  no  scruple  in  using  it  in  this  sense, 
which  'inaequalis'  never  has,  but  'iniquus'  continually. 

Is  not  my  way  equal  ?  are  not  your  ways  unequal  ? 

Ezek.  xviii.  25.  Authorized  Version. 

These  imputations  are  too  common,  sir, 
And  easily  stuck  on  virtue,  when  she's  poor: 
You  are  unequal  to  me. 

Ben  Jonson,  The  Fox,  Act  iii.  Sc.  1. 

Jerome,  a  very  unequal  relator  of  the  opinion  of  his  adversaries. 

Worthington,  The  Life  of  Joseph  Mtde,  p.  xi. 

UNHANDSOME.    See  '  HANDSOME.' 

A  narrow  straight  path  by  the  water's  side,  very  unhandsome  [>v 
fatten]  for  an  army  to  pass  that  way,  though  they  found  not  a  man 

to  keep  the  passage. 

North,  Plutarch's  Lii'is,  p.  317. 

The  ships  were  unwieldy  and  unhandsome. 

Holland,  Liry,  p.  1188. 


UNKIND,      )  *  Unkind'  has  quite  forfeited  now  its 
UNKINDNESS  )  primary  meaning,  namely,  that  which 


UNKIND — UNHAPPY.  207 

violates  the  law  of  kind,  thus  "  unkind  abominations" 
(Chaucer),  meaning  incestuous  unions  and  the  like; 
and  has  taken  up  with  the  secondary,  that  which  does 
not  recognize  the  duties  flowing  out  of  this  kinship. 
In  its  primary  meaning  it  moves  in  a  region  where 
the  physical  and  ethical  meet ;  in  its  secondary  in  a 
purely  ethical  sphere.  How  soon  it  began  to  occupy 
this  the  passages  which  follow  will  show ;  for  out  of 
a  sense  that  nothing  was  so  unnatural  or  '  unkind'  as 
ingratitude,  it  early  obtained  use  as  a  special  designa 
tion  of  this  vice. 

Unkynde  [ingrati],  cursid,  withouten  affeccioun. 

2  Tim.  iii.  2,  3.  Wiclif. 

It  is  all  one  to  sey  unktnde, 

As  thing  vvhiche  doone  is  againe  kinde, 

For  it  with  kinde  never  stoode 

A  man  to  yelde  evill  for  goode. 

Gower,  Confessio  Amantis,  b.  v. 

The  most  damnable  vice  and  most  against  justice,  in  mine  opinion, 
is  ingratitude,  commonly  called  unkindness.  He  is  unkind  that  de- 
nieth  to  have  received  any  benefit,  that  indeed  he  hath  received ;  he 
is  unkind  that  dissimuleth  ;  he  is  unkind  that  recompenseth  not ;  but 
he  is  most  unkind  that  forgetteth. 

Sir  T.  Elyot,  The  Governor,  b.  ii.  c.  13. 


UNHAPPY,     )  A  very  deep  truth  lies  involved  in 

UNHAPPINESS.  j  the  fact  that  so  many  words,  and  I 

suppose  in  all  languages,  unite  the  meanings  of  wicked 

and  miserable,  as  the  Greek  tf^eVXof,  our  own  '  wretch' 

and  '  wretched.'     So,  too,  it  was  once  with  '  unhappy,' 


208  UNHAPPY — UNION. 

although  its  use  in  the  sense  of  '  wicked'  has  now 
passed  away. 

Fathers  shall  do  well  also  to  keep  from  them  [their  children]  such 
schoolfellows  as  be  unhappy,  and  given  to  shrewd  turns  ;  for  such  as 
they  are  enough  to  corrupt  and  mar  the  best  natures  in  the  world. 

Holland,  Plutarch's  Morals,  p.  16. 
Thou  old  unhappy  traitor, 
Briefly  thyself  remember ;  the  sword  is  out 
That  must  destroy  thee. 

Shakespeare,  King  Lear,  Act  iv.  Sc.  6. 

The  servants  of  Dionyse,  king  of  Sicily,  which  although  they  were 
inclined  to  all  nnhappincss  and  mischief,  yet  after  the  coming  of  Plato, 
perceiving  that  for  his  doctrine  and  wisdom  the  king  had  him  in  high 
estimation,  they  thus  counterfeited  the  countenance  and  habit  of  the 
philosopher.  gir  T  Elyot)  The  Goi.ernor>  b  iL  c  14 

[Man]  from  the  hour  of  his  birth  is  most  miserable,  weak,  and 
sickly ;  when  he  sucks,  he  is  guided  by  others  ;  when  he  is  grown 
great,  practiseth  unhappiness  and  is  sturdy ;  and  when  old,  a  child 
again  and  repenteth  him  of  his  past  life. 

Burton,  The  Anatomy  of  ^Melancholy  ;  Democritus  to  the  Reader. 

UNION.  The  elder  Pliny  ( H.  N.  ix.  59)  tells  us 
that  the  name  '  unio'  had  not  very  long  before  his  time 
begun  to  be  given  to  a  pearl  in  which  all  chiefest 
excellencies,  size,  roundness,  smoothness,  whiteness, 
weight  met  and,  so  to  speak,  were  united;  and  as  late 
as  Jeremy  Taylor  the  word  '  union'  was  often  employed 
by  our  best  writers  in  this  sense,  namely,  that  of  a 
pearl  of  a  rare  and  transcendent  beauty. 

And  in  the  cup  an  union  shall  he  throw, 
Richer  than  that  which  four  successive  kings 
In  Denmark's  crown  have  worn. 

Shakespeare,  Hamlet,  Act  v.  Sc.  2 


UNION — USURY.  209 

Pope  Paul  II.  in  his  pontifical  vestments  outwent  all  his  predeces 
sors,  especially  in  his  mitre,  upon  which  he  had  laid  out  a  great  deal 
of  money  in  purchasing  at  vast  rates  diamonds,  sapphires,  emeralds, 
crysoliths,  jaspers,  unions,  and  all  manner  of  precious  stones. 

Sir  Paul  Rycaut,  Platina's  History  of  the  Popes,  p.  114. 

Perox,  the  Persian  king,  [hath]  an  union  in  his  ear  worth  an  hun 
dred  weight  of  gold. 

Burton,  The  Anatomy  of  Melancholy,  mem.  ii.  sect.  3. 


USURY,  1  This,  which  is  now  the  lending  of  money 
USURER,  j  upon  inordinate  interest,  was  once  the 
lending  it  upon  any.  The  man  who  did  not  lend  his 
money  for  nothing  was  then  a  i  usurer/  not  he,  as  now, 
who  makes  unworthy  profit  by  the  necessities  of  the 
needy  or  the  extravagance  of  the  foolish.  It  is  true 
that  the  word  was  as  dishonorable  then  as  it  is  now ; 
and  it  could  not  be  otherwise,  so  long  as  all  receiving 
of  interest  was  regarded  as  a  violation  at  once  of  di 
vine  and  of  natural  law.  When  at  length  the  common 
sense  of  men  overcame  this  strange  but  deep-rooted 
prejudice,  the  word  was  too  deeply  stained  with  dis 
honor  to  be  employed  to  express  the  lawful  receiving 
of  a  measurable  interest ;  but  '  usury,'  taking  up  a 
portion  only  of  its  former  meaning,  was  now  restricted 
to  that  whicli  still  remained  under  a  moral  ban,  namely, 
the  exacting  of  an  excessive  interest  for  money  lent. 

On  the  other  side,  the  commodities  of  usury  are :  first,  that  howso 
ever  usury  in  some  respect  hindercth  merchandizing,  yet  in  some  other 
it  advanceth  it ;  for  it  is  certain  that  the  greatest  part  of  trade  is  driven 
by  voung  merchants  upon  borrowing  at  interest;  so  as  if  the  usurer 


210  USURY  —  UNVALUED. 

either  call  in  or  keep  back  his  money,  there  will  ensue  presently  a 
great  stand  of  trade.  Bacon> 


Wherefore  then  gavest  not  thou  my  money  into  the  hank,  that  at 
my  coining  I  might  have  required  mine  own  with  usury  [ii>i>  r6x^]  ? 

Luke  xix.  23.  Authorized  Version. 

Brokers,  takers  of  pawns,  biting  usurers  I  will  not  admit;  yet  be 
cause  we  converse  here  with  men,  not  with  gods,  and  for  the  hardness 
of  men's  hearts,  I  will  tolerate  some  kind  of  usury. 

Burton,  Tlie  Anatomy  of  Melancholy  ;  Deinocritus  to  the  Reader. 


UNTHRIFTY,      )  As  the  « thrifty'  will  probably  be 
UNTHRIFTINESS.  j   the  thriving,  so  the  '  unthrifty'  the 

unthriving ;  but  the  words  are  not  synonymous  any 

more,  as  once  they  were. 

What  [is  it]  but  this  self  and  presuming  of  ourselves  causes  grace 
to  be  unthrifty,  and  to  hang  down  the  head ;  what  but  our  ascribing 
to  ourselves  in  our  means-using,  makes  them  so  unfruitful  ? 

Rogers,  Naaman  the  Syrian,  p.  146. 

Staggering,  non-proficiency,  and  unthrijliness  of  profession  is  the 

fruit  of  self. 

Id.,  Index. 

UNVALUED.  This  and  '  invaluable'  have  been  use 
fully  desynonymized  ;  so  that  '  invaluable'  means  now 
having  a  value  greater  than  can  be  estimated,  '  un 
valued'  esteemed  to  have  no  value  at  all. 

Two  golden  apples  of  unvalued  price. 

Spenser,  Sontiet  77. 

Go,  unvalued  book, 

Live,  and  be  loved  ;  if  any  envious  look 
Hurt  thy  clear  fame,  learn  that  no  state  more  high 
Attends  on  virtue  than  pined  envy's  eve. 

Chapman,  Dedication  of  Poems. 


UNVALUED — VILLAIN.  211 

Each  heart 

Hath  from  the  leaves  of  thy  unvalued  hook 
Those  Delphic  lines  with  deep  impression  took. 

Milton,  An  Epitaph  on  Shakespeare. 


V. 

VERMIN.  Now  always  noxious  offensive  animals  of 
the  smaller  kind  ;  but  employed  formerly  with  no  such 
limitation. 

This  crocodile  is  a  mischievous  four-footed  beast,  a  dangerous 

vermin  used  to  both  elements. 

Holland,  Ammianus,  p.  212. 

Wherein  were  all  manner  of  four-footed  beasts  of  the  earth,  and 
vermin  [vat  TO.  drjpla],  and  worms,  and  fowls  of  the  air. 

Acts  x.  12.  Geneva. 

The  Lord  rectifies  Peter,  and  frames  him  to  go  by  a  vision  of  all 

crawling  vermin  in  a  clean  sheet. 

Kogers,  Naaman  the  Syrian,  p.  42. 


VILLAIN,  1  A  word  of  which  the  story  is  so  well 
VILLA.NY.  j  known  that  one  may  be  spared  the  ne 
cessity  of  repeating  it.  It  was,  I  think,  with  <  villany' 
that  there  was  first  a  transfer  into  an  ethical  sphere, 
though  it  is  very  noticeable  how  '  villany'  till  a  very 
late  day  expressed  words  of  infamy  much  oftener  than 
deeds. 

Pour  the  blood  of  the  villain  in  one  basin,  and  the  blood  of  the 
gentleman  in  another ;  what  difference  shall  here  be  proved  ? 

Becon,  The  Jewel  of  Joy. 


212  VILLAIN — VOLUBLE. 

We  yield  not  ourselves  to  be  your  villains  and  slaves  [non  in  ser- 
vitutem  nos  tradimus],  but  as  allies  to  be  protected  by  you. 

Holland,  Livy,  p.  935. 

[He]  was  condemned  to  be  degraded  of  all  nobility,  and  not  only 
himself,  but  all  bis  succeeding  posterity  declared  villains  and  clowns, 
taxable  and  incapable  to  bear  arms. 

Florio,  Essays  of  Montaigne,  b.  i.  c.  15. 

In  our  modern  language  it  [foul  language]  is  termed  villany,  as 
being  proper  for  rustic  boors,  or  men  of  coarsest  education  and  em 
ployment,  who,  having  their  minds  debased  by  being  conversant  in 
meanest  affairs,  do  vent  their  sorry  passions  in  such  strains. 

Barrow,  Of  Evil-speaking  in  general,  Sermon  16. 


VIVACIOUS,  )  '  Longevity,'  as  one  might  expect  to 
VIVACITY.  j  find  it,  is  a  comparatively  modern 
word  in  the  language.  '  Vivacity,'  which  has  now 
acquired  the  mitigated  sense  of  liveliness,  served  in 
stead  of  it ;  keeping  in  English  the  original  sense 
which  '  vivacitas'  had  in  the  Latin. 

James  Sands,  of  Horborn  in  this  county,  is  most  remarkable  for 
his  vivacity,  for  he  lived  140  years. 

Fuller,  The  Worthies  of  England,  Staffordshire. 

Hitherto  the  English  bishops  had  been  vivacious  almost  to  wonder. 
For,  necessarily  presumed  of  good  years  before  entering  on  their  office 
ia  the  first  year  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  it  was  much  that  but  five  died 
for  the  first  twenty  years  of  her  reign. 

Id.,  The  Church  History  of  Britain,  b.  ix.  §  27. 

VOLUBLE.  This  epithet  always  insinuates  of  him 
to  whom  it  is  applied  now  that  his  speech  is  freer  and 
faster  than  is  meet ;  hut  it  once  occupied  that  region 


VOLUBLE — WIGHT.  213 

of  meaning  which  '  fluent'  does  at  present,  without  any 
suggestion  of  the  kind. 

He  [Archbishop  Abbott]  was  painful,  stout,  severe  against  bad 
manners,  of  a  grave  and  a  voluble  eloquence. 

Racket,  The  Life  of  Archbishop  Williams,  part  i.  p.  65. 


w. 

WAINSCOT.    This  was  very  commonly  restrained  to 
oaken  timber  or  oaken  boarding  alone. 

A  wedge  of  wainscot  is  fittest  and  most  proper  for  cleaving  of  an 

oaken  tree. 

Sir  T.  Urquhart,  Tracts,  p.  153. 

Being  thus  arrayed,  and  enclosed  in  a  chest  of  wainscot,  he  [Edward 
the  Confessor]  was  removed  into  the  before-prepared  feretry. 

Dart,  History  of  St.  Peter's,  Westminster,  b.  ii.  c.  3. 


WHIRLPOOL.  None  of  our  Dictionaries,  as  far  as  I 
am  aware,  have  noticed  the  use  of  <  whirlpool'  to 
designate  some  huge  sea-monster  of  the  whale  kind. 

The  Indian  Sea  breedeth  the  most  and  the  biggest  fishes  that  are ; 
among  which  the  whales  and  whirlpools,  called  balaenae,  take  up  in 
length  as  much  as  four  acres  or  arpens  of  land. 

Holland,  Pliny,  vol  i.  p.  235. 

The  ork,  whirlpool,  whale,  or  huffing  physeter. 

Sylvester,  Du  Bartas,  First  Day  of  the  Week. 

WIGHT.  The  best  discussion  on  this  interesting 
word  is  to  be  found  in  Grimm's  Deutsche  Mythologie, 


214  WIGHT — WILFUL. 

pp.  408-410,  who  has  a  chapter,  On  "Wights  and  Elves. 
*  Wight'  has  lost  altogether  now  with  us  its  original 
sense  of  a  preternatural  or  supernatural  being,  and  is 
used,  but  always  slightingly,  of  men.  It  is  easy  to 
see  how,  with  the  gradual  contempt  for  the  old  my 
thology,  the  dying-out  of  the  superstitions  connected 
with  it,  the  words  of  it,  such  as  '  elf  and  '  wight/ 
should  have  lost  their  weight  and  honor  as  well. 

I  crouche  thee  from  elves  and  from  wights. 

Chaucer,  TJic  Millers  Tale. 

The  poet  Homer  speakcth  of  no  garlands  and  chaplets  but  due  to 

the  celestial  and  heavenly  wiijJds. 

Holland,  Pliny,  vol.  i.  p.  456. 

A  black  horse  cometh,  and  his  rider  hath  a  balance,  and  a  voice 
telleth  among  the  four  wights  that  corn  shall  be  dear. 

Broughton,  Of  Consent  upon  Apocalypse. 

When  the  four  u-iglils  are  said  to  have  given  glory,  honour,  and 
thanks  to  Him  that  sate  upon  the  throne  [Rev.  \.  14],  what  was  their 

ditty  but  this  ? 

Mede,  Sermons. 


WILFUL,  )<  Wilful'  and  'willing,'  'wilfully'  and 
WILFULLY.  )  '  willingly,'  have  been  conveniently  de- 
synonymized  by  later  usage  in  our  language  ;  so  that 
in  '  wilful'  and  '  wilfully'  there  now  lies  ever  the  sense 
of  will  capriciously  exerted,  finding  its  motives  merely 
in  itself;  while  the  examples  which  follow  show  there 
was  once  no  such  implication  of  se/f-\\'\\\  in  the  words. 

Alle  the  sones  of  Israel  halewidcn  wilful  thingi><  to  the  Lord. 

Erod.  xxxv.  29.   Wiclif. 


WILFUL — WIT.  215 

Fede  ye  the  flok  of  God,  that  is  among  you,  and  purvey  ye,  not  as 

constreyned,  but  wilfulli. 

1  Pet.  v.  2.  Wiclif. 

And  so,  through  his  pitiful  nailing,  Christ  shed  out  wilfully  for 
man's  life  the  blood  that  was  in  his  veins. 

Foxe,  The  Book  of  Martyrs ;  Examination  of  William  Thorpe. 

A  proud  priest  may  be  known  when  he  denieth  to  follow  Christ 

and  his  apostles  in  wilful  poverty  and  other  virtues. 

Id.,  76. 

WINCE.  Now  to  shrink  or  start  away  as  in  pain 
from  a  stroke  or  touch ;  but,  as  far  as  I  know,  used 
always  by  our  earlier  authors  in  the  sense  of  to  kick. 

Poul,  whom  the  Lord  hadde  chosun,  long  tyme  wynside  agen  the 

pricke. 

Wiclif,  Prolog  on  the  Dedis  ofAposUis. 

For  this  flower  of  age,  having  no  forecaste  of  thrift,  but  set  alto 
gether  upon  spending,  and  given  to  delights  and  pleasures,  winseth 
and  flingeth  out  like  a  skittish  and  frampold  horse  in  such  sort  that  it 
had  need  of  a  sharp  bit  and  short  curb. 

Holland,  Plutarch's  MoroJs,  p.  14. 


WIT,    1  The  present  meaning  of  '  wit'  as  compared 

WITTY,  j  with  the  past,  and  the  period  of  transition 

from  one  to  the  other,  can  not  be  better  marked  than 

in  the  quotation  from  Bishop  Reynolds  which  is  given 

below. 

Who  kncwe  the  witte  of  the  Lord,  or  who  was  his  counceilour  ? 

Rom.  xi.  34.  Wiclif. 

I  take  not  wit  in  that  common  acceptation,  whereby  men  under 
stand  some  sudden  flashes  of  conceit  whether  in  style  or  conference, 
which,  like  rotten  wood  in  the  dark,  have  more  shine  than  substance, 


216  WIT — WOMB. 

whose  use  ami  ornament  are,  like  themselves,  swift  and  vanishing,  at 
once  both  admired  and  forgotten.  But  I  understand  a  settled,  con 
stant,  and  hal.itual  sufficiency  of  the  understanding,  whereby  it  is 
enabled  in  any  kind  of  learning,  theory,  or  practice,  both  to  sharpness 
in  search,  subtilty  in  expression,  and  despatch  in  execution. 

Reynolds,  The  Passions  and  Faculties  of  the  Soul,  c.  xxxix. 

I  confess  notwithstanding,  with  the  wittiest  of  the  school-divines, 
that  if  we  speak  of  strict  justice  God  could  no  way  have  been  bound 
to  requite  man's  labours  in  so  large  and  ample  manner. 

Hooker,  Ecclesiastical  Polity,  b.  i.  c.  11. 

Rare  epicures  and  gluttons,  fit  to  be  presidents  of  a  Greek  sympo- 

siac,  not  for  their  skill  in  philosophy,  but  their  icilty  arts  of  drinking. 

J.  Taylor,  The  Doctrine  and  Practice  of  Repentance,  c.  iv.  §  1. 


WITCH.  This  was  not  once  restrained,  as  it  now  is, 
to  the  female  exerciser,  of  unlawful  magical  arts,  but 
would  have  been  as  freely  applied  to  Balaam  or  Simon 
Magus  as  to  her  whom  we  call  the  '  Witch'  of  Endor. 

There  was  a  man  in  that  citie  whose  name  was  Symount,  a  wicehe. 

Acts  viii.  9.  Wielif. 

Item  he  is  a  witch,  asking  counsel  at  soothsayers. 

Foxe,  The  Book  ofMarti/rs;  Appeal  against  Boniface. 

Who  can  deny  him  a  wisard  or  witch,  who  in  the  reign  of  Richard 
the  Usurper  foretold  that  upon  the  same  stone  where  he  dashed  his 
spur  riding  toward  Bosworth  field  he  should  dash  his  head  in  his 

return  ? 

John  Cotta,  The  Trial  of  Witchcraft,  p.  49. 


WOMB.    This  is  now  only  the  ioWpa,  but  once  had 
as  wide  a  meaning  as  the  ;foi\/«,  of  the  Greeks. 


WOMB — WORSHIP.  217 

And  he  coveitide  to  fille  his  icombe  of  the  coddis  that  the  hoggis 

eeten,  and  no  man  gaf  hym. 

Luke  xv.  16.  Wiclif. 

Of  this  matere,  o  Poule,  well  canst  thou  trete ; 
Mete  unto  wombe,  and  wombe  eke  unto  mete. 

Chaucer,  The  Canterbury  Tales. 

Falstajff.  An  I  had  but  a  belly  of  any  indiflferency,  I  were  simply 
the  most  active  fellow  in  Europe.     My  womb,  my  womb,  my  womb 

undoes  me. 

Shakespeare,  2  King  Henry  IV.,  Act  iv.  Sc.  3. 


WORM.  This,  which  designates  at  present  only  the 
smaller  and  innoxious  kinds  of  creeping  and  crawling 
things,  once,  as  the  German  '  Wurm'  to  the  present 
day,  was  employed  of  all  the  serpent  kind. 

There  came  a  viper  out  of  the  heat  and  leapt  on  his  hand.  When 
the  men  of  the  country  saw  the  worm  hang  on  his  hand,  thev  said, 

This  man  must  needs  be  a  murderer. 

Acts  xxviii.  3,  4.   Tyndale. 

'Tis  slander, 

Whose  edge  is  sharper  than  the  sword ;  whose  tongue 
Outvenoms  all  the  worms  of  Nile. 

Shakespeare,  Cymbeline,  Act  iii.  Sc.  4. 

• 

O  Eve,  in  evil  hour  didst  thou  give  ear 
To  that  false  worm,  of  whomsoever  taught 

To  counterfeit  man's  voice. 

Milton,  Paradise  Lost,  b.  ix. 


WORSHIP.  At  present  we  '  worship*  none  but  God  ; 
there  was  a  time  when  the  word  was  employed  in  so 
much  more  general  a  sense  that  it  was  not  profane  to 
say  that  God  <  worshipped,'  that  is  honored,  man. 

10 


218  WORSHIP — WRETCHED. 

Tliis,  of  course,  was  the  sense  of  the  word  when  those 
words  found  place  in  the  Marriage  Service,  "  with  my 
body  I  thee  worship" 

If  ony  man  serve  me,  my  fadir  schal  worschip  hym. 

John  xii   26.  Wiclif. 

That  they  show  all  good  faithfulness,  that  they  may  do  worship  to 

the  doctrine  of  our  Saviour  God  in  all  things. 

Tit.  ii.  10.  Tyndale. 

Man,  that  was  made  after  the  image  and  likeness  of  God,  is  full 
worshipful  in  his  kind ;  yea,  this  holy  image  that  is  man  God  wor- 
shippeth. 

Foxe,  The  Book  of  Martyrs ;  Examination  of  William  Thorpe. 

WRETCHED.  What  has  been  observed  on  '  unhappy' 
explains  and  accounts  also  for  the  use  of  '  wretched' 
as  —  wicked.  '  Wretch'  still  continues  to  cover  the 
two  meanings  of  one  miserable  or  one  wicked,  though 
'  wretched'  does  so  no  more. 

Nero  reigned  after  this  Claudius,  of  alle  men  wrcchidhest.  redy  to 

alle  mancr  vices. 

Capgrave,  Chronicle  of  England,  p.  62. 


n 
en. 


I  change  of  ngautoMMn  in  a  word  makes  what  was  < 
!  highly  appropriate  and  reverent  appear  now  absoh 
profane.  The  word  "cunning"  formerly  meant  not 
sinister  or  underhanded  ;  and  in  Thorpe's  confessioi 
Fox's  "  Book  of  Martyrs,"  is  the  sentence:  "I  bel 
that  all  these  three  Persons  [in  the  Godhead]  are  eve 
power,  and  in  cunning,  and  in  might,  full  of  grace  an 
all  goodness." 

It  is  a  somewhat  noticeable  fact  that  the  changes  in 
signification  of  words  have  generally  been  to  their  de 
I  oration ;  that  is,  words  that  heretofore  had  no  sini 
meaning  have  acquired  it.  We  have  given  above  an 
euiplification  of  this  in  the  word  "cunning."  "  D.-un 
in  another  of  this  class.  It  was  used  by  earlier  \\  i  i 
i  without  the  insinuation,  which  is  now  almost  latent  it 
{  that  the  external  hhows  of  modesty  and  sobriety  rent  01 
corresponding  realities.  "Explode"  formerly  nn-an 
drive  oft"  the  stage  with  loud  clappings  of  the  hand*, 
gradually  became  exaggerated  into  its  present  signih'cat 
"Facetious,"  too,  originally  meant  urbane,  but  now  ha 
degenerated  as  to  have  acquired  the  sense  of  buffoon 
and  Mr.  French  sees  indications  that  it  will  ere  long 
quire  the  sense  of  indecent  buffoonery.  "  Frippery"  i 
means  trumpery  and  odds  and  ends  of  cheap  finery, 
oii.-o  it  meant  old  clothes  of  value,  and  not  of  the  wo 
lessness  the  term  at  present  implies.  The  word  "  gosi 
formerly  meant  only  sponsors  in  baptism.  They  were  i 
posed  to  become  acquainted  at  the  baptismal,  and  by  t 
sponsorial  act  to  establish  an  indefinite  affinity  towj 
each  other  and  the  child.  Thus  the  word  was  appliet 
all  familiar  and  intimate,  and  later  obtained  meaning  wl 
is  now  predominant  in  it.  "  Grope"  once  meant  merel 
feel  for,  but  latterly  the  idea  of  feeling  in  the  dark,  or 
blind  man,  was  attached  to  it.  "  Harlot,"  though  alw 
a  word  expressive  of  contempt,  once  implied  nothing 
that  special  form  of  sin  to  which  it  exclusively  re  fen 
present.  "Homely"  once  meant  secret  and  famii 
though  in  the  time  of  Milton  it  had  acquired  the  same  s( 
as  at  present.  "  Idiot,"  from  the  Greek,  originally  si 
fied  only  a  private  man  as  distinguished  from  one  in  pu 
office,  and  from  that  it  has  degenerated  till  it  has  com* 
designate  a  person  of  defective  mental  power*.  "  Incer 
once  meant  to  kindle  not  only  auger,  but  good  passions 
well;  Fuller  uses  it  in  the  sense  of  "to  incite."  "  Ii 
lence"  originally  signified  a  freedom  from  passion  or  p 
but  now  implies  a  condition  of  languid  non-exertion.  " 
solent"  was  once  only  "  unusual."  "  Knave"  meant  m 
ly  a  boy ;  ,aud  many  other  words  might  be  mentioned 
significations  of  which  have  in  time  become  so  altered 
exaggerated  as  to  require  a  skilled  philologist  to  trace 
their  original  meaning. 

The  derivation  of  "lumber"  is  peculiar.     As  the  L 
bards  were  the  bankers  so  they  were  also  the  pawnbrol 
of  the  middle  ages.     The  "  lumber-room"  was  then 
place    where    Lombard    banker    and   broker   stored 
pledges,   and  "  lumber"   gradually  became  to  mean 
pledges  themselves.     As  these  naturally  accumulated 
they  got  out  of  date  or  unserviceable,  it  is  easy  to  trace 
steps  by  which  the  word  descended  to  its  present  mean 

"Obsequious"  is  another  instance  of  degeneration  in 


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